Mass Layoffs At Microsoft Will Include Over 800 Employees From Activision Blizzard

More information has come to light on the impending mass layoffs at Microsoft’s gaming division. Last month’s announcement revealed that roughly 1,900 employees are in line to be dismissed from multiple Microsoft-owned studios on March 30th.

That number has now been confirmed to include 812 Activision Blizzard staff, 478 of whom work at the company headquarters in Irvine, California, despite Microsoft’s insistence that it won’t be cutting jobs at Activision Blizzard following its controversial acquisition of the studio just four months ago.

The layoffs will also include 86 employees from Toys for Bob, an Activision Blizzard subsidiary that previously worked on Crash Bandicoot and Skylanders. The 35-year-old development studio was acquired by Activision Blizzard in 2005 and made the company billions of dollars in revenue from Skylanders sales way back in 2010.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer defends the mass layoffs as necessary for Microsoft’s continued growth. “I have a commitment to the company on the Xbox business being a profitable and growing part of Microsoft. And I need to put us in the best position for long-term growth,” he told Game File. “Most of that is about building great products that exceed their expectations and find millions of customers. But honestly, you know, the cost of building the products inclusive of the people who work on them—I need to make sure we have enough of the right people and the right number of people in the right places for us to succeed.”