The wave of layoffs that swept through Microsoft’s gaming division recently affected not only the corporate part and support teams, as Phil Spencer assured, but also developers within Activision Blizzard.
Image Source: Activision
Let us recall that in order to focus its business on “long-term success,” Xbox parted with 650 employees (in addition to the January 1900). It was reported that the new cuts will not lead to the cancellation of games and the closure of studios.
Game File journalist Stephen Totilo, citing an informed informant, reported that the layoffs affected the teams of two mobile games – Warcraft Rumble and Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile.
They will not close any of the projects, but they will reduce the activity of support and reduce the staff of developers responsible for it. Totilo added that Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile did not live up to management’s expectations.
Image source: Blizzard Entertainment
According to a Game File tipster, cuts to the Warcraft Rumble and Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile teams, unlike much of the new wave of layoffs, are not related to the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
Microsoft has no shortage of ambitions in the mobile market, but following other game publishers, the company realizes that entertainment, even the most famous franchises in this area, is not guaranteed long-term success.
The acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion resulted in the dismissal of more than 2.5 thousand employees for Microsoft’s gaming division. In total, in 2024, more than 12 thousand people lost their jobs in the field of interactive entertainment.