Microsoft has announced that it will lay off around 650 more employees from its gaming division, with those affected mostly working in "corporate and supporting functions" across Microsoft Gaming.
According to an internal email sent to Microsoft employees by gaming head Phil Spencer (via Game File), the cuts are part of Microsoft's strategy of "aligning our post-acquisition team structure and managing our business".
Game File cites "a source familiar with the matter" as saying that the cuts will mostly be focused on Activision Blizzard. According to Game File's Stephen Totilo, Spencer framed news of the layoffs in the context of last year's record-breaking Activision Blizzard acquisition.
In his email, Spencer says this round of layoffs won't result in any "games, devices, or experiences" being cut, which puts it in direct contrast to January's Microsoft layoffs. That wave of cuts apparently resulted in "at least one game project at Blizzard" being cut, per Totilo.
According to another of Totilo's sources, no Xbox business unit leaders or gaming teams will be cut as part of these layoffs either. That means we won't be seeing any further studio closures akin to the shock shutdown of Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin, at...
