Microsoft began another devastating round of layoffs on June 2, reducing its workforce by 4%. It’s believed that around 9,000 employees have lost their jobs as a result. This cost-cutting measure has especially impacted the Xbox division – with multiple games, like Perfect Dark and Everwild, cancelled, development staff laid off, and entire studios closed. Microsoft has described this move as “necessary to position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace.”
News of the latest wave of layoffs prompted a comment from EA Japan general manager Shaun Noguchi. As an executive of a foreign-owned company himself (one that used to be infamous for its acquisitions in a similar way Microsoft is now), Noguchi points out on X that, “In recent years, there’s been a growing tendency – particularly among foreign-affiliated businesses – to demand short-term results from large-scale investments.” As a result, we see companies making these “strategic shifts to meet shareholder expectations” without giving enough time for investments to bear results. Noguchi believes that the recent layoffs at MS are a product of this framework.
As GamesIndustry.Biz points out, through its multiple rounds of layoffs, Microsoft has been cutting off staff from game companies it has spent nearly $100 billion acquiring in the past few years. Moreover, the extent of the cuts goes beyond just getting rid of overlapping functionality occurring from the large number of acquisitions. The company is laying off the very talent that brought value to the studios it acquired in the name of “efficiency,” which, as Noguchi suggested in his post, feels like very short-sighted decision-making.
As part of the same industry, Noguchi says he feels “a deep sense of pain” when such decisions are made at the expense of development staff. “The frustration of seeing something you’ve been building for so long never make it to the world, and the reality that gamers who were looking forward to it will never even get to play it. Both are incredibly disappointing. I sincerely hope that everyone affected by the layoffs will be able to move and demonstrate their abilities elsewhere.”
