Xbox Plans More Layoffs

Xbox is not going through good times. A few days ago, we saw that the company decided to close four major studios, including Tango Gameworks, which developed Hi-Fi Rush, and Arkane Austin, which is behind games such as Redfall and Prey. It was stated that this decision was to reduce costs and prioritize larger games.

The news coming today revealed that the situation at Xbox is quite serious and things could get worse. Bloomberg’s Jason Scherier on Xbox more layoffs He claimed he was on his way.

Employees are worried

We saw that Microsoft fired 1900 people, mostly from Activision and Xbox, in January. The studio closure move the other day and the new layoffs reported by Scherier revealed that the number will increase even more. The report shared on Bloomberg states that employees have been in shock for the last few days and are concerned about new layoff moves. is worried about was expressed.

It’s normal for studio closure decisions to be surprising. Come on Arkane Austin, it’s understandable after a flop like Redfall. However, the closure of Tango Gameworks, the Tokyo-based studio that developed Hi-Fi Rush, which was released last year and received great praise from both critics and players, is completely unexpected. Game “Xbox hit” was seen as. It was even brought to PS5 recently.

There is talk of an increase in Game Pass prices and the possibility of giving up on bringing Call of Duty to the service

Layoffs aren’t the only bad news. It is also said by different sources that an increase in Game Pass prices is being discussed. As it is known, Microsoft was buying developers by spending billions of dollars to bring games to Game Pass. However Subscription service growth has dropped significantly in recent years and Microsoft couldn’t find what he wanted. So much so that it has grown very slowly since 2021.

According to information obtained by The Verge’s Tom Warren, this situation is due to the company currently looking for room to cut costs. Plans to raise Game Pass again, specifically the Ultimate subscription caused him to do it. There are absolutely no plans to abandon Game Pass or remove it, but we may see serious increases soon.

Unfortunately, the bad news is not limited to these. Allegations, Microsoft Whether to bring Call of Duty games to Game Pass reveals that he had discussions on the subject. As it is known, after the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it was announced that all CoDs would be added to the service.

However, wanting to reduce costs, the company’s desire to reduce the cost of Call of Duty is provided by Activision. revenue will be undermined by Game Pass It made him start thinking. It is possible to predict that giving up on adding Call of Duty to the service will attract great reaction from the players.

on June 9 There is an Xbox event. All managers who closed the studios will also attend this event, which will also be held physically. It is a matter of curiosity what kind of reaction they will receive due to recent developments. They were also expected to announce the CoD games coming to Game Pass at this event. Then we will see whether they give up or not.