Earlier today IGN.com reported on an internal email from head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty that addressed upcoming studio closures of Alpha Dog Studios, Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and Roundhouse Games.
Back in January of 2024, Microsoft had outlined a plan to cut 1,900 jobs from its Xbox Game Studios and while the news at the headline at the time was eye catching the reality was that the company is still in the midst of executing its mass layoff effort.
While a handful of other studios were spared the guillotine this time around, an executive from the untouched studio of Arkane Lyon took to Twitter to speak out against today’s news.
The gaming industry continues to be gutted as several studios shed thousands of employees or close altogether over the past couple of years.
Microsoft may not stand alone in its actions where Google shut down its entire Stadia cloud gaming effort, Amazon cut fifteen percent of its staff dedicated to its project Luna, and Sony cut 900 gaming jobs. Despite the success the Spider-Man franchise has brought Insomniac studios, the division also announced it would be letting go 50 to 75 employees to address budget concerns.
As the gaming sector has already recorded a net loss of over 7,000 jobs since last year, it’s entirely understandable that Bakaba take aim at Microsoft adding its own 1,900 tally to the pile. Especially as the company argued the its acquisition of Activision Blizzard would continue to be great for competition and a net positive for the industry.
With Microsoft throwing around close to $70B to acquire the largest game publisher in the industry with overlapping job positions, it was inevitable that there would be some ‘consolidation.’ However, many are already beginning to question moves such as getting rid of one of the only Japanese based studios in the portfolio as Xbox Game Studio preaches about another ‘concerted’ effort to attract an audience in the region.
Yes, Microsoft has one of the largest gaming libraries in the industry thanks to holding the entirity of Activision Blizzard’s studios and titles but will pruning such as today be part of a cascade of decisions that squander what should be an no-brainer win for the company?
