Summary
Xboxhas reportedly been told to “go dark” today with regard to its media presence, according to an industry insider. The news follows, and is likely linked to, the announcement earlier today thatXbox’s parent company, Microsoft, would be laying off hundreds of employees from various gaming divisions, a trend that has embittered the gaming community in its past occurrences.
Thenewest round of layoffs at Microsoftwill result in the loss of jobs for 650 employees, all from various gaming divisions. CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer explained that the layoffs are a restructuring move the company is taking following its historic and embattled $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which brings franchises likeCall of DutyandWorld of Warcaftunder the Microsoft banner.
The rumor regarding the “go dark” initiative came from industry insider Tom Warren, senior editor at The Verge, who made a post on Twitter implying that the gaming giant had been instructed to mute its social media presence for an undisclosed period of time following the announcement of the layoffs. In the post, Warren states that the strategic move is being made to avoid a repeat of the negative reaction Microsoft received during its last major round of layoffs in May, when itclosed multiple studios at Bethesda. Shortly after that announcement, the company made a social media post advertising its new Fire Vapor Special Edition Controller, and the irony of the “Feel the Burn” tagline included in that post drew mockery from players upset about the layoffs, with the tagline ultimately being removed.
Xbox Social Media Goes Silent Following Layoff Announcements
As of now, the official Xbox Twitter page has not made a post in nearly 24 hours. The most recent post on the social media page appeared on September 11 and covered the re-introduction of thefriend requests feature on Xbox consoles.
The recent layoff announcement isn’t the biggest one to hit the company so far in 2024. In January,Microsoft laid off 1,900 staff membersfrom various gaming divisions, with most of the cuts occurring at Activision Blizzard, and speculation that the layoffs were also closely tied to the massive acquisition deal. Those layoffs, which also affected Xbox and ZeniMax employees and the majority of the customer service staff at Blizzard, accounted for eight percent of the gaming workforce of Microsoft-owned companies. Shortly following that layoff announcement, Microsoft became only the second company in the world to have its market value surpass the $3 trillion mark, following in the footsteps of Apple.
