As easy as it is to call the leadership team at Xbox Games Studio a bunch of fucking pin heads, they’re not especially unique. Anyone who has had a job in corporate America will be familiar with the type: leaders who say one thing, while consistently doing another. Bold promises made to employees, while knowing full well that there are no plans to actually follow through on those promises. Whatever it takes to quell unrest, and get everyone back to working quietly.

Regardless, the news this past week out of Microsoft’s Xbox division has been especially shit.

Here’s the short version: this past week, Microsoft announced a second round of layoffs within their gaming operations. This included the closing of 3 studios: Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and Alpha Dog Games. The number of affected employees hasn’t been published at the time of writing, but it’s important to note that the total body count will be in addition to the 1900 jobs Microsoft already axed earlier this year from Activision-Blizzard. Those earlier layoffs account for about 20% of the total job cuts across the games industry in 2024.

Using a combo finisher in Microsoft's award winning Hi-Fi Rush.

These job losses are awful, but layoffs have been an unfortunate norm across the wider technology industry for the past 18 months. For example, Google cut 12000 jobs last year, and my former employer announced plans to lay off 3000 employees during the current fiscal year. All in the name of appeasing shareholders, and balancing the budget amid non-zero interest rates.

Editor’s Notes: I wasn’t affected by a layoff in case you were curious. I voluntarily left over what I’ll describe as a compensation dispute.

Make no mistake: I’m not justifying all these layoffs. What I am saying is that every scumbag company is engaged in the same shitty behaviour. This problem isn’t unique to the games industry, nor to Microsoft. It’s systemic, and is affecting everyone that works in technology, or something technology adjacent.

What is uniquely stupid about Microsoft is something they shared immediately after closing those 3 studios. During a town hall following the studio closure announcement, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Games Studio, stated, “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards.”

I’m not exactly sure how that was supposed to subdue anyone’s anxiety about further layoffs, but it at least seems like a fairly reasonable strategy on face value. Smaller scale titles that try something a little different have been dominating a lot of the award circuit across the industry. Heck – Microsoft’s own Hi-Fi Rush was one such smaller scale title which picked up a BAFTA for animation, and a TGA for Best Audio Design. It’s the first game that Microsoft has put out in some time that actually received some kind of critical acclaim, instead of being maligned as a poorly constructed sequel that was attempting to cash-in on brand recognition. Ergo, it’d make sense that Microsoft would want more of these titles to boost Xbox’s brand image in the public eye.

Except they just closed the studio responsible for Hi-Fi Rush: Tango Gameworks.

Whoops.

An image with the iconic Steve Urkel line, "Did I do that?" with a poorly cropped Xbox logo over his face.

So let me get this straight, Matt. You want Xbox’s various game studios to make smaller, critically acclaimed titles that win awards. Then you, and the other execs, will go on to publicly praise said titles before shuttering the studios? You fucking snake.

This town hall was obviously meant to save face with those folks who are still employed, but I can’t imagine it having the intended effect. If I was working at a Microsoft owned studio, I’d be rightfully terrified for the prospects of my livelihood. The executive team has clearly demonstrated that making a critically and commercially successful, award winning game isn’t enough to protect you anymore. They’re out here with a fully loaded pistol, and a blindfold shooting wildly in every direction.

Fuck y’all.