Xbox Workers Stunned After 3,200 Job Cuts, About 20% of Staff

Xbox is cutting about 3,200 jobs, an estimated 20% of its workforce, with around 1,600 roles going immediately and the remaining 1,600 over the next 12 months, according to BBC. The layoffs follow a memo from Xbox chief executive Asha Sharma saying she planned to “reset the business”, and Xbox leadership said the “painful” cuts are intended to focus resources on its biggest franchises, including Fallout. The BBC said affected staff included workers at Xbox-owned ZeniMax Online Studios and Bethesda-linked studios such as ID Software, where former employees said nearly 100 staff were laid off. Xbox told the BBC reports that the Texas team had been effectively wiped out were “inaccurate” and said it had “dozens of people working on ID Tech across multiple locations”.