Source: Microsoft plans to lay off ~9,000 employees, or less than 4% of its workforce, across teams and role types, after cutting ~6,000 in May and 300+ in June
read Phil Spencer's note to staff Bloomberg : Microsoft Cuts 9,000 Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs IGN : Microsoft Makes Significant Layoffs Across Gaming Division, Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Confirms in Memo to Staff Jez Corden / Windows Central : Microsoft's layoffs to top 9,000 people, impacting around 4% of the firm's entire workforce — total 2025 layoffs now top 15,300 people Todd Bishop / GeekWire : Microsoft cuts another 4% of its workforce, about 9,000 jobs, in continued efficiency push Bella Javier Liamzon / Tech Times : Microsoft Layoffs Cancel ‘Perfect Dark’ Reboot, ‘Everwild,’ and More Moneycontrol : Microsoft job cuts: 5 games that have been cancelled by popular developers Aaron Holmes / The Information : Microsoft to Cut 9,000 Jobs in Second Round of Layoffs This Year Dennis Patrick / Gameranx : Xbox Reportedly Still Has Over 40 Projects In Active Development Luc Olinga / Gizmodo : Microsoft Is Firing About 9,000 People Because Business Is Great Andrew Nusca / Fortune : Why Microsoft laid off 9,000 employees Lily Jamali / BBC : Microsoft to cut up to 9,000 more jobs as it invests in AI Hilbert Hagedoorn / Guru3D : Microsoft Gaming Division Cuts Over 9,000 Jobs in 2025 Layoffs Bandhakavi Swagath / Verdict : Microsoft announces another round of layoffs, affecting 9,000 roles Shubhangi Chowdhury / The American Bazaar : US layoffs hit highest level since 2020 with Microsoft cutting 9,000 employees Bukola Oyeyemi / TechCity : Microsoft Confirms Lay Off Of 9,100 Employees Crystal Kim / The Daily Upside : Microsoft Cuts Another 9,000 Employees Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable : Microsoft Laying Off 9,000 Employees - 4% Of Workforce Josh Coulson / TheGamer : As Xbox Projects Are Being Shut Down After Mass Layoffs, These Are The Games That Are Safe Maria Deutscher / SiliconANGLE : Microsoft cuts 9,000 jobs in latest round of layoffs Karen Weise / New York Times : Microsoft to Lay Off About 9,000 Employees Techpresso : ☕️ Microsoft to lay off another 9,000 employees Andrew Webster / The Verge : Everwild has reportedly been cancelled. Adrian Weckler / Irish Independent : Microsoft to axe 9,000 jobs worldwide as company's 4,000 Irish staff wait for details Bluesky: Jason Schreier / @jasonschreier : BREAKING: As part of today's cuts, Xbox has canceled the troubled Rare game Everwild, according to people familiar. News on the job cuts is coming in drips — not sure why Xbox didn't announce it all at once — but I'll report what I can as I confirm it. Yeet Kune Do / @yeetkunedo : “Our overall portfolio strategy is unchanged: build games that excite our players, continue to grow our biggest franchises, and create new stories, worlds, and characters.” — whatever man, gonna go ahead and game pass on everything else you have in development Nate Horsfall / @lightningarts : 9000 layoffs today from microsoft. — Still waiting for AI to “make new jobs” — still waiting for the trickle down effect. — still waiting for their 75 billion dollar activision merger to benefit people other than the execs already making millions. — This nonsense is why regulations are always necessary. James Davis / @jamesdavismakes.com : I was part of a Microsoft mass layoff, which shortly followed another Microsoft mass layoff, and preceded another Microsoft mass layoff later that year. And we were just hit with another another another Microsoft mass layoff, the second-largest layoff over the last... jesus, over the last two years. Keith Cirkel / @keithamus.social : Your regular reminder being laid off is not a condemnation of you or (likely) your manager, but instead a signal of incompetence from upper management. Their job is to keep the business sustainable and they failed, and you get to pay the price. — www.theverge.com/news/693535/ ... Chris Brandrick / @brandrick : A solid chunk of these in the gaming division — Xbox seems increasingly lost as to what it wants to be. Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : Microsoft is laying off 4% of its workforce (9,000 employees) which is separate from the 6,000 in May, 300 in June and 2,000 laid off in January as low performers. — Today's layoffs are to reduce layers of management. The company beat estimates with $26B in profits during its last financial quarter. Stephen Totilo / @stephentotilo : Broader context is that Microsoft is cutting its overall workforce by 4%. CNBC says that's about 9,000 people — Gaming is impacted for sure, but it's not alone — www.cnbc.com/2025/07/02/m... Mastodon: @nixCraft@mastodon.social : Meanwhile: Microsoft to cut about 4% of jobs (9000 engineering talents) amid hefty AI bets. This was announced hours ago https://www.bloomberg.com/... this job cut help offset rising spending on AI infrastructure/investments and reflect a greater push to use AI tools internally, according to an analyst with Bloomberg. Threads: John McBride / @johncodezzz : At this point, I just can't fathom what in the world Microsoft is doing with their gaming division. Today, huge layoffs and studio closures hit. Mind you, they're a company with over $100 billion in operating income just last year, up 24 percent year-over-year. … X: Jez / @jezcorden : It's ugly to take victory laps when people are losing their jobs, and even uglier to call for Xbox to shut down given there's still thousands employed there for better or worse. It's Microsoft top down that needs to change, and its attitude to its customers and employees. @dc_draino : Wait, Microsoft just laid off 2,300 workers and now wants 6,327 H-1B workers imported? No @xmbgx : I said in 2019, Microsoft sucks. I was tired of waiting for them to get it together when it came to gaming and decided to head out. Nearly 6 years later. I can still honestly say, Microsoft sucks. @ultraegyptian : @Grummz I believe Microsoft will have to cancel Game Pass. It's untenable. Game Pass growth has been stagnant for a while now. Price increases will be the last nail in the coffin for a lot of people. @mr_rebs_ : Breaking: Halo Studios was affected by the Microsoft Xbox layoffs. #Halo [image] Douglass Mackey / @dougmackeycase : President Trump should drop the hammer. Start denying H-1B to companies like Microsoft and Apple. Derenic Byrd / @derenicbyrd : Microsoft has requested 14,000 H-1B visa workers from India and will lay off 9,000 Americans. This is a war on the middle class. @fuckyouiquit : Microsoft has one of the best profit margins imaginable too sitting at 36%. So much so they recently announced a $60,000,000,000 stock buyback program. Fucking ghouls. Micky D / @demickyd : Microsoft today really said [image] Tom Warren / @tomwarren : Microsoft's Forza Motorsport developer has been hit hard by Xbox cuts. I am hearing more than 70 people will be let go at Turn 10. Also hearing that Microsoft has canceled Perfect Dark. Details 👇https://www.theverge.com/ ... Destin / @destinlegarie : Jason Schrier repots that Turn 10 has been impacted hard. “nearly 50% of staff” https://bsky.app/... [image] Tom Henderson / @_tom_henderson_ : We're really successful at the moment, but you're fired. LinkedIn: Danny Chung : Yet another 9,000 to be laid off today at Microsoft after having already cut thousands of jobs this year alone. … Noah Berkson : Everyone's blaming AI for layoffs. — But here's the truth: — 💥 AI itself hasn't caused mass layoffs (yet). — 💰 What has? … Ruwan Fernando : The layoff news from Microsoft is just brutal. — Almost 9000 staff to be let go across multiple divisions, gaming included. … Marty Kahnle : Microsoft just confirmed another 9,100 layoffs, bringing its total for the year close to 18,000 jobs eliminated across gaming, cloud, marketing, and commercial teams. … Forums: r/BayAreaRealEstate : Microsoft laying off 9k again r/VivaPinata : Rare's game Everwild, which was reportedly mechanically similar to Viva Piñata, has been canceled by Microsoft r/SocialistGaming : Microsoft to Lay Off Thousands; Xbox Chief Says Gaming Division Cuts Will Remove ‘Layers of Management’ r/gamingnews : Microsoft is closing down Xbox studio The Initiative, with Perfect Dark killed as well — joining Everwild and ZeniMax's new IP, and other unannounced projects r/crashbandicoot : Xbox's Matt Booty claims that in addition to canceling Everwild, Perfect Dark and closing The Initiative, they have also decided to “wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio”. r/Spyro : Xbox's Matt Booty claims that in addition to canceling Everwild, Perfect Dark and closing The Initiative, they have also decided to “wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio”. … r/gamernews : Microsoft is closing down Xbox studio The Initiative, with Perfect Dark killed as well — joining Everwild and ZeniMax's new IP, and other unannounced projects r/gaming : Mass layoffs at Xbox. 50% of Turn 10 laid off. Raven CoD dev hit with huge layoffs r/giantbomb : Microsoft is closing down The Initiative, after 7 years. The partnership with Crystal Dynamics will end, and “Perfect Dark” will be cancelled. r/LastStandMedia : Microsoft is closing down Xbox studio The Initiative, with Perfect Dark killed as well — joining Everwild and ZeniMax's new IP, and other unannounced projects r/BanjoKazooie : Perfect Dark is also cancelled. r/XboxSeriesXlS : Microsoft is closing down Xbox studio The Initiative, with Perfect Dark killed as well — joining Everwild and ZeniMax's new IP, and other unannounced projects r/centrist : Woke companies, MAGA and Conservative companies treat American Workers the same. r/Vinesauce : Perfect Dark is Cancelled r/TombRaider : Crystal Dynamics' Perfect Dark game has been canceled. What does this mean for the next TR game? r/gamesEcultura : Perfect Dark oficialmente cancelado. Estúdio The Initiative deixa de existir r/perfectdark : Matt Booty (Head of Xbox Game Studios) confirms Perfect Dark Cancellation r/gaming : Windows Central: Microsoft is closing down Xbox studio The Initiative, with Perfect Dark killed as well — joining Everwild and ZeniMax's IP, and ‘several’ other projects r/pcgaming : Microsoft is closing down Xbox studio The Initiative, with Perfect Dark killed as well r/Starfield : Microsoft lays off 9,000 workers, including at Bethesda r/microsoft : Microsoft is laying off as many as 9,000 employees r/BanjoKazooie : Sources: Everwild has been cancelled as Xbox layoffs hit Rare | VGC r/pcgaming : Sources: Everwild has been cancelled as Xbox layoffs hit Rare r/kindafunny : Sources: Everwild Has Been Cancelled r/gaming : Bloomberg 10% of King employees cut. US Xbox to follow by later today r/XboxGamePass : Sources: Everwild has been cancelled as Xbox layoffs hit Rare r/TwoBestFriendsPlay : Everwild cancelled, Rare hit with layoffs r/XboxSeriesXlS : Microsoft is laying off as many as 9,000 employees r/jobs : Microsoft lays off 9,000 employees after laying off 6,000 in May r/news : Microsoft laying off about 9,000 employees in latest round of cuts r/Layoffs : MSFT r/inthenews : Microsoft is laying off as many as 9,000 employees r/technology : Microsoft laying off about 9,000 employees in latest round of cuts r/gaming : Microsoft Begins Deep Job Cuts Across Xbox Division r/TwoBestFriendsPlay : Microsoft Begins Deep Job Cuts Across Xbox Division (200 people or 10% of staff laid off at King, developers of Candy Crush) r/pcgaming : Microsoft Begins Deep Job Cuts Across Xbox Division