Microsoft Eliminates 9,000 Jobs, Cancels Perfect Dark and Everwild

Microsoft on 2 July began eliminating about 9,000 positions, or roughly 4 % of its global workforce, in its deepest round of cuts this year. The reductions fall heavily on the company’s gaming arm: Barcelona-based mobile studio King is shedding about 200 jobs, equal to 10 % of its headcount, and staff across Europe and North America were notified throughout the day.

Studios under the Xbox umbrella are among the hardest hit. ZeniMax Media, Rare, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, High Moon Studios and Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 are all facing layoffs, with people familiar with the matter saying Turn 10 could lose nearly half its staff. Microsoft is also closing Santa Monica-based The Initiative, the team leading development of the Perfect Dark reboot.

Alongside the job cuts, Microsoft is scrapping a slate of in-development titles. Confirmed cancellations include the Perfect Dark reboot, Rare’s fantasy adventure Everwild and ZeniMax Online Studios’ long-gestating MMO code-named Blackbird, which had been in the works since 2018. Several additional unannounced projects are being wound down as resources are redirected to established franchises.

In an internal memo, Xbox chief Phil Spencer said the overhaul would remove layers of management and focus investment on “strategic growth areas” at a time when the platform has “more players, games and gaming hours than ever before”. Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty told employees the decisions were “not made lightly”. The latest cuts follow 6,000 job eliminations in May and come amid pressure to streamline costs after Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard.