After initial rumors claimed that Xbox would be hit by major layoffs, it seems the claims have come to fruition. Over 9,000 employees at Microsoft have been laid off, including the gaming division. Developer The Initiative has been entirely shuttered, along with their project, which was a new entry into the Perfect Dark series. Rare was impacted too, with Gregg Mayles, who directed Banjo-Kazooie, leaving the company, and Rare's latest game, Everwilds, being canceled. Zenimax's upcoming MMORPG codenamed "Blackbird" which began development in 2018, has also been canned. Bloomberg has reported that Forza Motorsport's developer, Turn 10, has lost almost half of its team as well.

We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio. As part of this, we are closing one of our studios, The Initiative. These decisions, along with other changes across our teams, reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape. We did not make these choices lightly, as each project and team represent years of effort, imagination, and commitment.

Our overall portfolio strategy is unchanged: build games that excite our players, continue to grow our biggest franchises, and create new stories, worlds, and characters. We have more than 40 projects in active development, continued momentum on titles shipping this fall, and a strong slate headed into 2026.

For those directly affected, we are working closely with HR and studio leadership to provide support, including severance, career transition assistance, and where possible, opportunities to explore roles on other teams.

To everyone across our studios: thank you. Your creativity and resilience continue to define who we are. I believe in the strength of our teams and the direction we’re taking on the path ahead.

Source

 

[LoggerMan]

Maybe one day AI will give us a faithful Perfect Dark sequel? I hope I live long enough to see it.

 

[m00k00]

9000 layoffs.
Microsoft applied for 5000 HB1 visas.

It's clear as day to anyone they just want to import cheap labor from India and pay super low wages. Outsource work to cheaper labor overseas. It's a disgrace.

Well, this is not the politics forum, maybe you should better go there. I btw thought that HB1 visas need to be approved by the government. Let's look who is in charge right now ... oh, isn't that strange?

On the topic: it's a real shame. I was especially totally looking forward to Perfect Dark, damn

 

[Moe87]

Well, this is not the politics forum, maybe you should better go there. I btw thought that HB1 visas need to be approved by the government. Let's look who is in charge right now ... oh, isn't that strange?

On the topic: it's a real shame. I was especially totally looking forward to Perfect Dark, damn

American corporations are well known to replace American IT specialists with foreigners since dot-com bust era ended to save money on labor costs and yeah, it has to be approved by USCIS, also it is capped at 65,000 per year with up to 20,000 per year for master degree and up, so many corporations, including Microsoft said 65,000 isn't enough and they want to increase the cap or remove the cap altogether.

Trump's first term criticized against on H-1B for corporations to replace American workers to save on labor cost and it is not known about second term, also Elon Musk is big fan of H-1B.

Anyway, I do believe that Microsoft's intent to replace American workers with AI and I have no idea about where Purple_Shyguy got numbers from.

 

[KingVamp]

At the very least, we might see a lot of small studios show up.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

American corporations are well known to replace American IT specialists with foreigners since dot-com bust era ended to save money on labor costs and yeah, it has to be approved by USCIS, also it is capped at 65,000 per year with up to 20,000 per year for master degree and up, so many corporations, including Microsoft said 65,000 isn't enough and they want to increase the cap or remove the cap altogether.

Trump's first term criticized against on H-1B for corporations to replace American workers to save on labor cost and it is not known about second term, also Elon Musk is big fan of H-1B.

Anyway, I do believe that Microsoft's intent to replace American workers with AI and I have no idea about where Purple_Shyguy got numbers from.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/article-14874151/microsoft-mass-layoffs-h1b-visas.html

9000 H1B approved last year. 6000 applied for in the last few weeks. Firing US citizen's to replace them with lower wage foreign workers.

Why is this even allowed?

 

[Moe87]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/article-14874151/microsoft-mass-layoffs-h1b-visas.html

9000 H1B approved last year. 6000 applied for in the last few weeks. Firing US citizen's to replace them with lower wage foreign workers.

Why is this even allowed?

Thank you for source.

As for your question, sadly, it is not illegal for corporations to fire American workers and replace with foreigners to cut on labor cost, and there is no federal law ban this practice.

Trump has few possible options like suspend the H-1B program, ban or blacklist Microsoft from apply for H-1B or automatic denial to all pending H-1B applications, so it could cause a public spat with Elon Musk. I think there will be exception for handful of companies like TSMC for new fab in Arizona because they require specialized workers that is in short supply for Americans.

 

[leon315]

Am late for the discussion, is Microsoft getting rid of DEI division or something ?

 

[Moe87]

Am late for the discussion, is Microsoft getting rid of DEI division or something ?

No, they just reduced the DEI team but not fully eliminated.

 

[FemtoFalcon]

Everwilds and Perfect Dark were among the few first party games I was at some point looking forward to.
Never got into Forza and Gears and Halo Infinite was terrible. Been exclusively playing third party games this generation.

Did you realise that Perfect Dark Gameplay trailer was fake?

Why even bother look forward to any game until the game is released.

I mean look at Scalebound and the many, many games with the initial gameplay trailer not reflective of the final game... So you are looking foirward to something that doesn't exist... There are even rumours the new Fable game trailers is fake too and no real gameplay still doesn't exist and just some assets have just been done.

 

[raxadian]

It's clear as day to anyone they just want to import cheap labor from India and pay super low wages. Outsource work to cheaper labor overseas. It's a disgrace.

I can't believe they fucked up Perfect Dark, all they had to do is update the sound and graphics of the first game and do a re-release with online play, that's it.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

Did you realise that Perfect Dark Gameplay trailer was fake?

Why even bother look forward to any game until the game is released.

I mean look at Scalebound and the many, many games with the initial gameplay trailer not reflective of the final game... So you are looking foirward to something that doesn't exist... There are even rumours the new Fable game trailers is fake too and no real gameplay still doesn't exist and just some assets have just been done.

There's no point in looking forward to ANY games that are AAA these days. They are all trash. Only indie games are decent. Gaming is finished.

Post automatically merged: Jul 4, 2025

I can't believe they fucked up Perfect Dark, all they had to do is update the sound and graphics of the first game and do a re-release with online play, that's it.

They did do that lol. 15 years ago.

 

[Moe87]

There's no point in looking forward to ANY games that are AAA these days. They are all trash. Only indie games are decent. Gaming is finished.

Post automatically merged: Jul 4, 2025

They did do that lol. 15 years ago.

Why not call all of Shy Guy to invade Microsoft headquarter and oust the CEO?

Nintendo pwns Microsoft lol.

 

[Viri]

Am late for the discussion, is Microsoft getting rid of DEI division or something ?

Nah, they'll keep doing that shit, so people focus on that, and not the other shady shit they do.

 

[ito]

microsoft showing yet again that they only buy these IPs to diversify their portfolio for shareholders, there's only doom and gloom to entail for whatever ensues.

always remember that any company that makes a big purchase, whether big or small, they want an instant return to please the board and the greasy cunts pumping it, whether that means acid-stripping the publisher or developer down (lay-offs) and seeing how far you can stretch employees load wise (with what's left), or other disingenuous stunts to please the greed that otherwise already has too much. you, the consumer lost out in every conceivable way. stop giving them an inch.

they will pay entire teams to tell them how they can take a mile.

 

[subcon959]

Even John Romero isn't safe from these evil pricks.

 

[Xzi]

9000 layoffs.
Microsoft applied for 5000 HB1 visas.

It's clear as day to anyone they just want to import cheap labor from India and pay super low wages. Outsource work to cheaper labor overseas. It's a disgrace.

Thing is, Microsoft bought these already-established developers precisely because they weren't getting satisfactory results from their in-house studios. In other words, they aren't very good at fostering creative success through management alone, and that's not going to change with a foreign workforce. If anything it'll probably just make the problem worse, but I guess from their perspective: if they were gonna release subpar games anyway, might as well spend less money developing them.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/article-14874151/microsoft-mass-layoffs-h1b-visas.html

9000 H1B approved last year. 6000 applied for in the last few weeks. Firing US citizen's to replace them with lower wage foreign workers.

Why is this even allowed?

C'mon, there's no way that even you were foolish enough to believe Trump was actually gonna saddle corporations with any meaningful regulation/oversight. He just handed them $4 trillion dollars in tax breaks with nothing expected in return.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

Thing is, Microsoft bought these already-established developers precisely because they weren't getting satisfactory results from their in-house studios. In other words, they aren't very good at fostering creative success through management alone, and that's not going to change with a foreign workforce. If anything it'll probably just make the problem worse, but I guess from their perspective: if they were gonna release subpar games anyway, might as well spend less money developing them.


C'mon, there's no way that even you were foolish enough to believe Trump was actually gonna saddle corporations with any meaningful regulation/oversight. He just handed them $4 trillion dollars in tax breaks with nothing expected in return.

Cheap migrant work visas lowering wages for everyone isn't a Trump issue. It's happening in literally every single white country on earth. Canada is insane with this crap.

 

[Xzi]

Cheap migrant work visas lowering wages for everyone isn't a Trump issue. It's happening in literally every single white country on earth. Canada is insane with this crap.

I'm aware of that, I'm just saying that he's the last person on Earth you should ever expect to push back against the tide of oligarchy. At best we can hope that the price increases spurred by his tariffs bring on the AAA gaming crash sooner, but at the end of the day, his greed is most likely going to have a net negative effect on the gaming industry just as it does on every other industry. A recession certainly isn't going to solve anything for anybody.

 

[zonk47]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/article-14874151/microsoft-mass-layoffs-h1b-visas.html

9000 H1B approved last year. 6000 applied for in the last few weeks. Firing US citizen's to replace them with lower wage foreign workers.

Why is this even allowed?

With respect to the H1b visas, there's been something of a shell game going around for years. It's so bad that many of the help wanted ads online and elsewhere for tech jobs are not legit ads, just fraudulent attempts to "prove" that company can't find someone to do the job so visa holder can be given longer-term residency.

See How Tech Company Recruiters Sidestep Trump’s Immigration Crackdown — ProPublica

But it's allowed for a couple reasons. #1: to compensate the Indian nobility for their investments (migration to the USA was the real payoff all along). #2: to keep domestic wages flat in the sector. The politicians don't have a clue... their "advisors" tell them Americans are too stupid to do the work, and they are believed.

Also don't blame migrants for low wages... blame the hedge funds which make it hard for other countries to trade fairly with the USA and Europe. They are the reason those countries are impoverished.

 

[Avlossa]

Everwilds and Perfect Dark were among the few first party games I was at some point looking forward to.
Never got into Forza and Gears and Halo Infinite was terrible. Been exclusively playing third party games this generation.

Thank goodness for emulators been playing perfect dark and if you are going to play it make sure you get https://github.com/Graslu/1964GEPD/releases it the best for goldeneye and perfect dark