Last week’s layoffs at Microsoft and Xbox Games were shocking to say the least, with over 9,000 people losing their jobs, including veterans at Rare, Romero Games, and the cancellation of big projects such as Perfect Dark. This comes despite the fact that the tech giant reportedly made $26 billion in the last quarter.
And, in the aftermath, industry peers have been mourning the “colossal waste of talent” that has been let go, with many criticising Microsoft for the decision. One such name is current Vice President of Technology at The Pokémon Company Eric Neustadter (shared via PC Gamer), who also used to work at Microsoft as an Operations Manager for Xbox Live.
“It’s heartbreaking to watch what’s happening to this industry that I love,” Neustadter wrote on Bluesky. “The incentives are misaligned so strongly that fun games and profitable teams aren’t what matter.”
Many online share the same sentiment as Neustadter, such as former IGN writer (who has since worked on Star Wars: Squadrons and Gotham Knights) Mitch Dyer. “Unreal that CEOs can layoff almost 20,000 people in a year but keep their jobs — an absolutely disgraceful display of leadership at Microsoft”
Tony Grayson, the creator of Antonblast and Antonball, said “My heart breaks for my friends at Microsoft affected by today’s layoffs. Truly beyond words.” While former BioWare writer and narrative director on skate. John Elper said he was “still reeling over the MS announcement,” saying the industry is “the grimmest” things have been.
“Making numbers go up forever is not sustainable and never was,” says Dosa Divas director and co-founder of Outerloop Games Chandana Ekanayake, who criticises the current state of the industry and the cycle of laying off talent and going “back to hiring and acquisition again.”
With more news coming out about the layoffs and cancelled games over the past few days, criticism has been growing increasingly pointed, particularly towards Microsoft’s increasing investments in AI tech.
As current Senior Systems Designer at Respawn Andrew Carl puts it, the “carnage” is coming at exactly the same time. Carl is also a former Blizzard and Vicarious Visions employee.
It’s an incredibly tough time in the industry right now, and we’re still finding out more details about last week’s mass layoffs at Microsoft.
Remember to support the games and creators that you love, folks.
