Despite being less than a month into 2024, thousands of video game industry workers have already lost their jobs. Now Microsoft is joining the depressing trend as it plans to lay off 1,900 employees across Activision Blizzard and Xbox this week—despite just becoming the second company ever to hit a $3 trillion valuation.
Most of the layoffs, which make up about 8% of Microsoft’s gaming division of 22,000 employees on the whole, will occur within its Activision Blizzard division—which the tech giant finally acquired for $69 billion after a lengthy regulatory battle three months ago.
Blizzard’s upcoming survival game has now been reportedly canceled, and Blizzard President Mike Ybarra and Chief Design Officer Allen Adham are among the executives leaving the company.
But Blizzard apparently still has other games in development, and those remaining who were assigned to the now-dead game will be moved to other departments.
How Ubisoft, Xbox, and Blizzard Are Using AI to Make Next-Generation Games
Some of the most prolific video game studios are using generative AI to automate the tedious elements of game design, like NPC dialogue and creating new levels of detail for in-game renderings—all in an effort to speed development and focus human talent on more important elements. Generative AI is artificial intelligence that can create new content—such as text, images, or music—using prompts. It learns from a large amount of data and uses that data to generate new, complementary content ranging...
In an internal memo, Xbox head Phil Spencer stated that Microsoft will provide the laid-off employees with severance and other benefits depending on “local employment laws.” The company plans to “continue to invest in areas that will grow our business,” but did not specifically state what some of those areas might be.
It’s worth noting, though, that Xbox did recently invest in an AI-powered game development toolkit late last year, which video game talent heavily criticized over fears that such tools would lead to layoffs and poorer-quality games. Microsoft’s AI gaming push has also been heavily criticized by gamers themselves. And Blizzard is reportedly experimenting with AI to design future game characters.
Gamers Bash Xbox for Controversial Art Apparently Made by AI
Microsoft has been one of the biggest proponents of generative artificial intelligence (AI), plunging billions into OpenAI and pushing AI tools for Xbox developers. But now the tech giant has drawn the ire of angry gamers by apparently using AI-made artwork to promote indie games. According to a report from gaming publication Kotaku, the indie game-centric ID@Xbox division posted winter-themed artwork this week on Twitter (aka X) accompanied by the text “Walking in a indie wonderlaaand,” and ask...
National union group Communications Workers of America, which represents game workers at some of Microsoft’s subsidiaries, called the layoffs a clear sign that “even when you work at a successful company in an extremely profitable industry, your livelihood is not protected without a voice on the job,” Reuters reported.
“We will continue to support workers at Microsoft and across the video game industry who want to have a union voice on the job,” the CWA added.
“Layoffs in the video game industry are becoming the norm, even at companies that continue to deliver huge profits,” ZeniMax CWA member Wayne Dayberry told IGN.
Twitch, Unity Layoffs Keep Grim Gaming Industry Trend Alive in 2024
Amazon-owned livestreaming platform Twitch made dramatic cuts Wednesday, laying off about 35% of its staff. But Twitch isn’t the only gaming company to reveal layoffs barely more than a week into 2024, continuing a grim trend from last year. Roughly 500 employees were impacted by Twitch’s layoffs, and CEO Dan Clancy explained in a blog post that the company was simply too big to meet its financial goals. Bloomberg first reported the news Tuesday ahead of Twitch’s official announcement. “Our orga...
While it’s unclear exactly to what extent Microsoft’s love for AI led to its latest round of layoffs, the rise of generative AI tools has undoubtedly led to growing concerns around the onslaught of layoffs in 2023. It’s difficult to prove causation in many cases, but the correlation has proven disturbing to many industry workers.
Riot Games, another large gaming studio, also laid off 530 employees this week, though it has promised its departing staffers benefits like six months of severance pay to lessen the wound.
Twitch, Unity, Discord, and Nexon’s Pixelberry Studios are among the growing number of gaming-related firms that have also cut staff this month. According to Kotaku, nearly 6,000 game industry workers have already lost their jobs in less than a month this year.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
