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Microsoft is laying off 1900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees (8% cut from the Gaming Division)
- Thread starter saintjules
- Start date
- News
THE DUCK
voted poster of the decade by bots
And it appears they would like to keep it that way. You do realize that publicly traded companies actually have a financially responsibiliy to earn as much profit as possible, right?
So xbox sales are down, software sales are down, the forum says xbox is failing, and you want them to what, hire more people?
Keep paying everyone despite the decline?
Keep all the duplicate jobs at Activision and xbox games? Make some sense here.
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Punished Miku
Member
And for anyone that thinks I changed my mind, I never did. This is all the most obvious thing in the world.
www.neogaf.com
"Acquiring a publisher is literally pointless. Most of those people will need to be relocated or will be downsized eventually. MS can already publish anything they want. What they're acquiring is developers and IP. This is especially the case with Activision, who barely publishes anything besides the stuff they make themselves."
- 11/22/22
Jim Ryan: "[Microsoft is] a tech giant with a long history of dominating industries, the choices gamers have today will disappear"
Sony moneyhatting games is not the same as this, plain and simple. Besides, that hasn't been a sony exclusive behavior in this industry, by any means. Do all those deals equate to 100 billion dollars? Jim Ryan for as long as we have made fun of him is telling the truth on this one.
"Acquiring a publisher is literally pointless. Most of those people will need to be relocated or will be downsized eventually. MS can already publish anything they want. What they're acquiring is developers and IP. This is especially the case with Activision, who barely publishes anything besides the stuff they make themselves."
- 11/22/22
They mostly bought King for 70 billion..gotta get the candy crush money.
Ybarra got put to the sword too
twilo99
Member
1900 out of how many?
Most of that needs to go.
I’m just hoping they are getting rid of the right people..
I’ve been saying that the whole industry needs a cleanse for a while.
Most of that needs to go.
I’m just hoping they are getting rid of the right people..
I’ve been saying that the whole industry needs a cleanse for a while.
Topher
Gold Member
That's a fair point, but also calls into question the profitability and sustainability of the gaming division, does it not?
ipukespiders
Member
And nonsense jobs like "community manager"
Topher
Gold Member
22k. 8.6%
twilo99
Member
u little commie u
Aces High
Member
I'll close my eyes and ignore the layoffs other companies do after acquisitions because only MS is scum in my little bubble, so I'll rage at them, but ignore when someone like Sony does the same thing to Bungie employees... amirite?
digoutyoursoul
Member
Yet the likes of Greenberg remain
Mr Moose
Member
Blizzard founder: Fuck, I knew I shouldn't have checked in on the marketing department, they must've confused me for one of them.
Banjo64
cumsessed
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
Get your tits and ass (and maybe your dick) randomly groped at the office...
...or get a pink slip.
Pick your poison.
Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
Rabid fans: YES! The merger making everyone stronger!!!
foamdino
Member
Erm Sony committed to a large retention package of $1+ Billion to retain staff *as that was the big worry* - so yeah, those Bungie employees were not immediately terminated post-acquisition, they had a year+ where their jobs were safe because of thatI'll close my eyes and ignore the layoffs other companies do after acquisitions because only MS is scum in my little bubble, so I'll rage at them, but ignore when someone like Sony does the same thing to Bungie employees... amirite?
Sony will spend $1.2bn on retaining Bungie staff
This week is video game industry earnings report week, which means we get a sense of how well each of the major platfor…
www.eurogamer.net
It sucks when anyone is let go.
twilo99
Member
Weak.
There will be more by q1 next year for sure.
Realistically they probably need that number at around 25% but it will take some time.
3liteDragon
Member
StereoVsn
Member
They are firing folks very quickly post acquisition. It’s unlikely people had enough time to properly evaluate people being let go.
It really looks like a knee jerk reaction to demonstrate to Satya/Investors that they are “taking action”.
And hell, what they need to do is properly manage their studio and get more content out. Firings are only going to confuse things.
And as far as removing redundancies in say HR or Finance there is no way they are that far advanced in integration path. Getting HR/Finance/Sales/Marketing integrated takes a lot of time.
So again, yeah, MS is being scammy in this one.
Banjo64
cumsessed
Get paid get laid? Sounds like a good time.
Topher
Gold Member
Yikes. Expected though whenever mergers and acquisitions take place jobs are usually lost and whatever promises that are made to fluff it up will change after a couple of years.
"We promised to this and this."
3 years later
"Oh no we cant do this anymore due to the changes in this climate"
"We promised to this and this."
3 years later
"Oh no we cant do this anymore due to the changes in this climate"
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Negotiator101
Member
Just to correct you nobody was sacked, redundancy is very different (still not nice for those affected of course) but they have monetary compensation and glowing references if needed.Here they come to spread the gospel.
Hallelujah. For a moment I was worried that we wouldn’t have people on NeoGAF defending Microsoft after they’ve sacked 1900 people.
JackMcGunns
Member
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
At least Microsoft is not showing us the dangers of irresponsible consolidation like Embracer.
Opinion - News - [Windows Central]Embracer Group is showcasing the dangers of irresponsible consolidation, which stands in stark contrast to Xbox.
Summary by chatgpt This article delves into Embracer Group's expansion strategy, highlighting the risks of irresponsible consolidation and its potential negative impact on industry engagement. Embracer Group's approach, marked by the acquisition of numerous game studios, is presented as...
Ah man, the irony in this happening right after that article dropped. So obvious by now Jez has an inside track with the Microsoft gaming side. Dropping them in the Embracer article was nothing but a pro-optics move to try making these cuts look better (and soften the perception of them).
ReBurn
Gold Member
In a way he was probably right. Do your best work so you don't get fired.phily boy at his best again
reinking
Gold Member
It seems like Ybarra wasn't thrilled with the direction things are going and decided to part ways.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
Microsoft was laying off tons of gaming employees before the merger, too. Hell they fired 10K+ people last year alone.
But it's okay, the execs got private concerts with Sting. That balances everything out.
reinking
Gold Member
I have been through outsourcing. Glowing reference = canned reference. Compensation was better than nothing though.
Banjo64
cumsessed
Paulistano
Member
There was a clown in my country who run for congress saying: "It can't get worse than it already is.", well he got elected and as any politician he lied, it can get worse, much worse!
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thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
Mr Moose
Member
Dr. Wilkinson
Member
executives as in the people making these decisions in the C-suite. Mike's only one person, and it was probably mutual. Msoft wants ABK to start pumping out products people actually want, beyond just CoD.
Probably pressuring them to do awesome stuff like resurrect StarCraft and other amazing things I would spend money on. I don't think I've bought an ABK product since Diablo III.
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Ass of Can Whooping
Gold Member
Nydius
Member
Mike Ybarra was one of the biggest cheerleaders for the Microsoft merger with ABK. He spent a year or so talking it up on Twitter and in the gaming press.
When it closed he said “the best is still to come”. Wonder if he still feels that way today. Guess he thought his job was one of the “safe” and “indispensable” ones.
When it closed he said “the best is still to come”. Wonder if he still feels that way today. Guess he thought his job was one of the “safe” and “indispensable” ones.
//DEVIL//
Member
That's a big number.
But if I have to guess, most of them are ( like what Sony and bungie ) are the duplicate people.
Team in HR, Marketing , Managers of the same role in both companies.
I mean... How many managers you need to oversee the company and get paid quarter a million per year if not more ?
With that being said. Just like what I said during bungie drama, hope these guys land a job soon.
But if I have to guess, most of them are ( like what Sony and bungie ) are the duplicate people.
Team in HR, Marketing , Managers of the same role in both companies.
I mean... How many managers you need to oversee the company and get paid quarter a million per year if not more ?
With that being said. Just like what I said during bungie drama, hope these guys land a job soon.
twilo99
Member
Microsoft is one off the most overweight corporations out there and acquiring more fat is just no good..
They know this, I’m just surprised they started the process so quickly, but generally q1 is the preferred quarter for layoffs.
Negotiator101
Member
I'm not defending the practice just stating there is a difference. Heart goes out to all affected, I do wonder why so many needed to go given who owns them now.
Topher
Gold Member
Eh....MS being "overweight" is based on what? Still waiting on you to answer my question in the other thread about "PlayStation outlets" reviewing Starfield so really hard to take your posts at face value right now.
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Iced Arcade
Member
I get overlap and redundancies but come on, that's a lot of jobs and families cut off from the worlds most valuable company who just forked over $69 million for COD.
Dirty no matter how you spin it.
Dirty no matter how you spin it.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Yup.
And the funny thing is gamers as a whole are the type who are cheap as hell scrimping, saving, and bitching about $10 price increases to games and new consoles that cost an extra $100. The industry has tons of customers who buy when games are dirt cheap and consoles finally hitting $500 is like pulling teeth, and a mighty trend is gamers skewing heavy to a small number of games like Fortnite, COD, FIFA etc.... instead of spreading their money at full price to support game studios big and small.
So on one hand, you see threads where game studio X is shutting down and sincere posts. But later that day they probably go play Fortnite and give Epic another $10 of mtx fees.
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Mortisfacio
Banned
Always love reading the Reddit comments over stuff like this. Filled with people who think a business is a charity. Swear none of them actually ever took even just an entry level economics class.
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