Defining Duke, Episode 161 | MASSIVE Layoffs Hit Xbox - What's Next? (Patreon)

The moment we’ve long anticipated since Xbox began gobbling up various publishers has arrived and indicated a change in direction for the brand. On January 25th, a day after Microsoft was named the second $3 trillion company, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees (accounting for 8% of their gaming division) across Activision, Blizzard, Xbox, and Bethesda. This pushes the industry as a whole beyond the 5,000 mark for total layoffs in 2024. For comparison, 2023 saw a total of 10,500 layoffs in its entire year and we’re halfway there already by January. Embracer continues to offload staff as their company falls through the floor, Riot just laid off 11% of its staff, SEGA 10% of its own, Unity another 1,800 people, and Twitch another 500. That’s just accounting for the mass contributors as over a dozen other companies have laid off hundreds of their own. From Toys For Bob all the way to the Call Of Duty workshop, many teams within Activision were impacted in a substantial way. With a new president atop Blizzard who once served as Call Of Duty's GM, Satya Nadella's blatant call for publishing games beyond Xbox, and a physical game division laid off within Xbox, the reality is clear that Xbox is no longer being gentle about the digital future they intend to charge toward. It was Phil Spencer who saved Xbox in its death throes during the Xbox One generation. Should we fear what Xbox will become?

Timestamps:
0:00:00 - Intro and Follow Up Questions

0:07:49 - Black Forest Game has laid around around 50 people

0:14:33 - MLB The Show 24 is coming to Game Pass March 19th

0:16:57 - PlayStation State of Play

0:57:04 - Palworld is officially the biggest third party launch in Game Pass history

1:03:41 - The Xbox 720 was real

1:12:42 - Limited Run Games on Xbox releases

1:17:34 - Shapeshifter Games is co-developing on an Xbox Game Studios project

1:22:22 - Assassin’s Creed Red rumored to be fully revealed in May 2024

1:25:10 - What We’re Playing

1:58:28 - Major layoffs at Microsoft Studios

3:00:32 - Games Pass is coming to the iPhone App Store

3:05:38 - Game Pass Pick of the Week