Microsoft has laid off over 9,100 employees across multiple divisions, with Xbox hit especially hard. This marks the fourth major layoff in just 18 months for Microsoft Gaming. Despite earning over $245 billion in 2024, the company continues cutting deeply into its creative teams.
Among the most shocking cuts:
The Initiative, a first-party studio formed in 2018, has been shut down.
Its project, a Perfect Dark reboot, is canceled.
Rare’s Everwild, in development since 2019, is also scrapped.
A new MMORPG at ZeniMax Online and multiple unannounced titles are gone.
Studios like Turn 10, Raven Software, and King (maker of Candy Crush) are also affected.
Microsoft claims the moves are part of “strategic realignment,” but the damage is clear.
“These decisions are not a reflection of the talent… but necessary for future growth,” said Xbox leadership.
Microsoft has been hurting the gaming world with destructive decisions since 2012 and shows no signs of stopping. We hope the talented developers impacted by these cuts find studios that actually deserve them. And hopefully, Perfect Dark ends up in the hands of a team that can finally give the series the justice it’s long been denied under Microsoft.
