Microsoft to lay off 1,900 staff from gaming division, CEO Phil Spencer calls it painful

The CEO also said that the company is planning to invest in areas that will grow the business and support its strategy of bringing more games to more players around the world. Incidentally, the latest development comes after Microsoft closed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard known for titles such as ‘World of Warcraft’, ‘Call of Duty’, ‘Spyro’, etc.

Spencer, while acknowledging the contribution of the team members, also assured that they will be offered full support during the transition including severance benefits as informed by local employment laws. He added that the roles that will be impacted will be notified. Spencer also urged the teams to treat their departing colleagues with respect and compassion, something which according to him has been consistent with the brand’s values.

Meanwhile, as part of the layoffs, Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard Entertainment announced his departure from the company. Ybarra joined Blizzard in 2019. “To the incredible teams at Blizzard – thank you. Words can’t express how I feel about all of you. You are amazing. Continue to do incredible things and always keep Blizzard blue and the player at the forefront of every decision,” Ybarra said in his long post on X.

Meanwhile, Blizzard’s chief design officer co-founder Allen Adham is also developing. Reportedly, Microsoft’s gaming teams have already been marred by significant cuts in budgets even before the layoffs took place.

The gaming segment has had several layoffs in the last few weeks. Earlier, this week, Riot Games was reported to have laid off 530 employees and shut down its publishing arm Riot Forge. Earlier this month, Lost Boys Interactive, a Gearbox-owned video game developer with 400 employees fired a sizable portion of the company.

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