Microsoft given official confirmation of the personnel cuts, with the approximately 10,000 layoffs which also involved the Bethesda and 343 Industries studios. In an email addressed to the staff, Phil Spencer said he was sorry that a decision of this type had become necessary on the part of the company.
The email was sent by a member of the Microsoft gaming division to the Kotaku editorial staff, who verified its reliability. Spencer reiterated that the layoffs were financially necessary, but the Xbox leader knows how much they can impact on every single individual who has lost their job.
“This has been a difficult week for Microsoft and within our teams. Now that many of the individual and group conversations have occurred, I want to take a moment to reiterate the message you have heard from your leaders. This is a difficult time for our business and actions this week were painful choices. The Gaming Leadership Team had to make decisions that we felt were necessary for the long-term success of our products and business, but the individual results of such decisions are real. I know it hurts. Thank you for supporting our colleagues as they craft these changes.
Over the next few weeks, we will have many opportunities to connect and answer your questions, including the monthly game update next week for teams attending that meeting, and I’m in close contact with the ZeniMax teams to provide support. The GLT and I are committed to being as transparent as possible. Moving forward with ambiguity is difficult, I am confident that together we will get through this difficult time in time“.
Some have not reacted in the best way to Spencer’s words: “The feeling is that he said these things because he had to,” wrote a current Xbox employee via text messages to Kotaku. “I seriously doubt that any of these monthly updates or other meetings are going to make anyone feel better,” he added, referring to the Xbox Developer_Update taking place on January 25th.
