Microsoft will do another round of layoffs, this time 2.5% of which will be stopped under cost-cutting measures, according to a Business Insider report. The software giant has more than 228,000 employees and this means hundreds of employees will lose their livelihoods immediately. The part expected to be hit the hardest is the Xbox business which has experienced a sharp reduction in revenue.
Today Microsoft reportedly wants to close Arkane Studios and cancel the development of the previously announced Marvel’s Blade game. The studio will be closed if it is not successfully sold. If that happens, it will bring the curtain down on the studio that developed the Dishonored and Redfall games.
In addition to Arkane, Microsoft may also close the Double Fine studio that developed Psychonauts, Compulsion Games that developed South of Midnight, and Ninja Theory that developed the Hellblade series if there is no buyer. The sudden decline in Xbox’s revenue and rising costs due to the RAM crisis are the catalysts for drastic cost-cutting to be done under new CEO Asha Sharma.
These layoffs also affect IO Interactive, although they are not under the Xbox umbrella. IO Interactive was forced to lay off a number of employees today after Xbox pulled out of Project Fantasy, which it was supposed to co-develop. Project Fantasy will still continue without Microsoft's involvement.
