Video Games Weekly: Every time this industry grows, it shrinks
Please enjoy — and I'll see you next week.
In a 2024 interview with Chris Plante , just a few months after Xbox fired 1,900 employees in one blow , Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said the best way to prevent further layoffs in the video game industry was to ensure constant financial growth for major studios' shareholders. And the most logical way to do that, he intimated, was with layoffs.
'The thing that has me most concerned for the industry is the lack of growth,' Spencer said. 'When you have an industry that is projected to be smaller next year in terms of players and dollars, and you get a lot of publicly traded companies that are in the industry that have to show their investors growth — because why else does somebody own a share of someone's stock if it's not going to grow? — the side of the business that then gets scrutinized is the cost side.'
He says it as if it's a natural and irrefutable fact of life. Of course the company has to continuously grow. Obviously the studio caters to its shareholders above all else. The only way to make the numbers go up is to reduce costs, which means slashing headcount. And Spencer is just a man in a Battletoads graphic tee who, clearly , has to do everything he can to make these investors, his fellow executives and himself richer. Poor guy.
'We're a business,' Spencer told Polygon . 'I've said over and over. I don't get any luxury of not having to run a profitable growing business inside of Microsoft. And we are that today. But just across the industry — you mentioned it, and in sitting here at GDC, I reflect on friends of mine in the industry that have been displaced and lost their jobs and how just, I don't want this industry to be a place where people can't, with confidence, build a career. So that's why I keep pivoting back to, how does this industry get back to growth?'
He's already said the answer — layoffs — but it flies directly in the face of his stated desire to create a stable marketplace where his friends can thrive, so he watches the snake devour its own tail and shrugs, never once considering that the question itself is the problem.
Fast forward to July 2, 2025. Microsoft laid off 9,000 people across its global workforce, and the Xbox division was rocked by thousands of job losses, multiple studio closures and notable game cancellations. The news came out in leaked memos, social media posts from fired employees and LinkedIn status updates, and I spoke to someone with knowledge of the situation at Halo Studios about the mood among developers. Overall, it's been a lot to keep track of. Here's all of the reported fallout, as it stands on July 8: Blizzard: Layoffs; Warcraft Rumble sunsetting
Halo Studios: Layoffs affecting at least five people; we published a firsthand account of tension at the studio
The Initiative: Studio closed; Perfect Dark remake canceled
King: Layoffs affecting roughly 200 people, 10 percent of the studio
Rare: Layoffs; creative director and Banjo-Kazooie creator Gregg Mayles is out after 35 years; Everwild canceled
Raven Software: Layoffs
Sledgehammer Games: Layoffs
Turn 10: The Forza Motorsport team was gutted by layoffs and shut down; Turn 10 is now a Forza Horizon support studio
ZeniMax Online Studios: Studio head Matt Firor is out after 18 years; Blackbird canceled
Spencer said it in 2024 and it's still true today: The Xbox division is growing, with an eight percent yearly increase in revenue from Xbox content and services in the first three months of 2025. Still, for employees, it doesn't feel stable.
This situation isn't unique to Microsoft, either: In May, Electronic Arts canceled its Black Panther game and closed the studio creating it, and this followed a previous culling at Respawn , which included canning a new Titanfall title, plus years of layoffs at BioWare. Meanwhile, EA CEO Andrew Wilson took home more than $25 million in the 2024 fiscal year. In 2024, 11 percent of developers across the industry were laid off, according to GDC's 2025 State of the Game Industry Survey . Statista reports the global games market is expected to grow yet again in 2025, generating more than $522 billion in revenue.
Layoffs are a cruel solution to a shitty question, and at the moment , they form the backbone of the AAA industry. The world's largest studios function on a binge and purge cycle, with acquisitions , crunch and layoffs built into their business plans. This cadence is only becoming more chaotic as additional factors, like AI and consolidation, are converging to decrease hiring numbers and increase the scope of layoffs. At Microsoft, using the company's Copilot AI toolset is ' no longer optional ' for employees, and as one worker told me, 'They're trying their damndest to replace as many jobs as they can with AI agents.'
Practices like these have helped propel unionization efforts across the industry, including at Xbox studios.
'We are deeply disappointed in Microsoft's decision to lay off thousands more workers, including union-represented CWA members, at a time when the company is prospering,' Communications Workers of America President Claude Cummings Jr. said about the recent layoffs. He continued, 'Right now, we are living through a moment of profound corporate consolidation and disruption. In times like these, union organizing is not just a tool for protections in the workplace; it is essential to workers' survival, and one of the strongest defenses we have against unchecked corporate power.'
In addition to this most recent round of 9,000 layoffs, Microsoft fired 6,000 people across its divisions in May. The Xbox segment specifically lost more than 2,500 employees to layoffs in 2024, and Microsoft closed Arkane Austin , Alpha Dog Games and Tango Gameworks (though Krafton eventually scooped up Tango for itself, thankfully). The scattershot vibe of the closures, cancellations and layoffs — affecting productive and low-overhead studios like Tango, exciting new projects like Blackbird , and multiple proven ZeniMax teams — drives home the notion that Microsoft was always more interested in controlling these studios' IPs than supporting the developers that worked there.
Layoffs are an answer to the question, 'How does this industry get back to growth?' Mass firings are not a function of artistic integrity or technological innovation, and they're antithetical to the process of actually building fresh and powerful video games. I've never asked myself how industry profits can grow, as a player or a critic. Only a small and very specific group of people have, and they don't speak for me. Unfortunately, they move for all of us.
Helldivers 2 is heading to Xbox on August 26, ending its tenure as a PlayStation 5 console exclusive after a little more than one year. Helldivers 2 is developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by PlayStation, so it wasn't guaranteed to come to Xbox platforms at all. To be clear, it's not due to be included in Game Pass any time soon. Since settling its launch issues in early 2024, Helldivers 2 has been quietly building up a sizable playerbase of intergalactic freedom fighters, with more than 15 million copies sold across PC and PS5.
Naughty Dog co-founder Neil Druckmann is stepping back from the development of HBO's The Last of Us television series to focus on making games again. Druckmann is a co-creator of the show and he's been spending his time recently helping produce and write it at HBO, but now that the second season is done, he's returning his attention to the studio that started it all.
'Now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, including writing and directing our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet ,' he said in a statement. Welcome back, Druckmann — as Engadget deputy news editor Nathan Ingraham put it, the video game industry is happy to see you again .
Former Ubisoft executives Thomas Francois, Serge Hascoet and Guillaume Patrux were convicted in France of fostering a toxic workplace with rampant sexual and psychological abuse. Former chief creative officer Hascoet was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended, and Patrux received a 12-month suspended term. Francois was additionally found guilty of attempted sexual assault and received a suspended three-year prison sentence. This wraps up a multi-year investigation by French authorities into complaints of toxicity and gender-based harassment at Ubisoft.
Sucker Punch will show off about 20 minutes of Ghost of Yōtei gameplay on Thursday, July 10, at 5PM ET during a dedicated State of Play event. I can't wait to watch that wind move .
I've been looking forward to Time Flies since I buzzed my way through the demo at Summer Game Fest 2022. It's a ridiculous little game that provokes poignant thoughts about human existence and pushes players to find joy in small moments, and it's finally coming to PC, Switch and PS5 on July 31. Make sure to give it a go, whenever you have some time to kill.
Two days after news of the Microsoft layoffs broke, Xbox Game Studios Publishing executive producer Matt Turnbull made a post on LinkedIn offering 'ways to use LLM Al tools (like ChatGPT or Copilot) to help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss.' His suggested prompts included, 'Draft a friendly message I can send to old coworkers letting them know I'm exploring new opportunities,' and, 'I'm struggling with imposter syndrome after being laid off. Can you help me reframe this experience in a way that reminds me what I'm good at?' The tonedeaf post was met with appropriate ridicule and swiftly taken down.
Have a tip for Jessica? You can reach her by email , Bluesky or send a message to @jesscon.96 to chat confidentially on Signal.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Business Wire
12 minutes ago
- Business Wire
Ares Management Enhances Infrastructure Debt Team and Global Positioning to Advance Growth
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ares Management Corporation ('Ares') (NYSE: ARES), a leading global alternative investment manager, announced today enhancements to its Infrastructure Debt team, including the most recent addition of Jon Plavnick as a Partner. Mr. Plavnick is based in New York and will focus on sourcing, structuring and managing infrastructure debt investments throughout the Americas. In addition, Spencer Ivey, Ares Partner and Head of Americas and Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Debt, has relocated to Ares' Sydney office to help accelerate the strategy's buildout in the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Plavnick brings nearly two decades of experience in infrastructure debt, most recently serving as a Partner at Global Infrastructure Partners ('GIP'), where he played a key role in advancing the firm's global infrastructure private credit platform. Prior to GIP, he was responsible for high-yield and distressed private credit opportunities as a Managing Director at Oaktree Capital Management, in addition to previous roles at BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank. 'Over the past three years ago, we have continued to enhance the positioning of our Infrastructure Debt platform as a leading, scaled financing solutions provider to businesses and assets across the digital, transport, energy and utility sectors,' said Patrick Trears, Partner and Global Head of Ares Infrastructure Debt. 'We are thrilled to welcome Jon, and we look forward to benefitting from his deep sector knowledge, strong origination network and commitment to collaboration as we continue to reinforce the strength of our capabilities. In addition, having worked with Spencer for 15 years to build our existing platform, I am confident that his focus on expanding our presence and increasing our access to the attractive opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region should further propel our global growth.' 'Equity investment in infrastructure has increased significantly, bolstered by the assets' essential nature and demonstrated resilience through cycles, and the resulting demand for flexible and scalable financing continues to outweigh supply,' said Mr. Plavnick. 'I believe the Ares Infrastructure Debt platform is well positioned to meet this exciting opportunity, and I am eager to work alongside Patrick, Spencer and the talented global team as we build on their achievements and deploy in the key sectors that we believe will define the next wave of infrastructure.' Originally from Australia, Mr. Ivey has helped lead the platform's growth from New York over the past 11 years, including through Ares' acquisition of the Infrastructure Debt business in 2022. 'Driven by secular demographic tailwinds, including rapid urbanization and a growing middle class, coupled with industry megatrends of digitization and the energy transition, the opportunity for private infrastructure debt capital in Asia-Pacific is significant,' said Mr. Ivey. 'By leveraging the deep experience of our team and the strength of Ares' global Credit platform, our Asia-Pacific business is focused on providing differentiated solutions to support the infrastructure demand in this market.' These developments follow recent team enhancements designed to further strengthen the global Ares Infrastructure Debt platform. This includes the addition of investment professionals Brent Canada as a Partner in New York in 2022 and Lorenzo Ceretti as a Partner in London in 2023. In addition, Daniel Katz, who joined Ares in 2006 and was previously a Partner in Ares' U.S. Direct Lending strategy and co-led portfolio management, was appointed Head of Portfolio Management for Ares Infrastructure Debt in 2024 and oversees portfolio monitoring and restructuring. With over two decades of industry experience investing across market cycles, the global Ares Infrastructure Debt team has an established track record and longstanding relationships that allow the platform to seek to generate exclusive deal flow and high-quality investment opportunities. As of March 31, 2025, the Ares Infrastructure Debt strategy managed nearly $11 billion in assets and has deployed over $21 billion in its 15-year history. The team's approximately 25 investment professionals operate across offices in London, New York, Singapore and Sydney. About Ares Management Corporation Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a leading global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, real estate, private equity and infrastructure asset classes. We seek to provide flexible capital to support businesses and create value for our stakeholders and within our communities. By collaborating across our investment groups, we aim to generate consistent and attractive investment returns throughout market cycles. As of March 31, 2025, Ares Management Corporation's global platform had approximately $546 billion of assets under management with operations across North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. For more information, please visit
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Microsoft says Chinese hackers ‘exploited vulnerabilities' in software servers
Microsoft has said Chinese hackers breached its SharePoint document software servers in a bid to target major corporations and government agencies. The Silicon Valley firm said state-backed 'threat actors' have 'exploited vulnerabilities' in servers used by firms, although its cloud service has not been impacted. It linked the attack to two main groups, Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, and flagged that another China-based group, Storm-2603, had also targeted its systems. Microsoft said in a message to customers that it has since released 'new comprehensive security updates' to deal with the incident. It said it had 'high confidence' that firms who do not install the new security updates could be targeted by the groups. In a statement, the company added: 'Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing.' The tech firm said the attackers had been uploading malicious scripts which are then 'enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors'. Bloomberg reported that the US agency responsible for designing nuclear weapons was among those breached in the attack. It also reported that national governments in Europe and the Middle East have also been affected.
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
dacadoo Forges Collaboration with Microsoft to Transform Digital Health Engagement in the Era of AI
Zurich, CH, July 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- dacadoo, a global leader in digital health engagement & health scoring announced today a collaboration with Microsoft to deliver next-generation digital health engagement solutions powered by generative and agentic AI. This collaboration will bring together dacadoo's award-winning Digital Health Engagement Platform (DHEP) and Microsoft's trusted cloud and AI infrastructure – including Azure AI Foundry - to accelerate innovation across health & life insurance, bancassurance, retail, and healthcare. This collaboration reflects both companies' shared commitment to improving health outcomes through secure, scalable, and intelligent health solutions. The key goals of the collaboration include: Delivering agentic, AI-powered health journeys that adapt to each individual in real time. Developing value-driven solutions for clients in insurance, retail health, and adjacent sectors. Using Microsoft Azure to ensure enterprise-grade security, scalability, and regulatory compliance. 'Collaborating deeper with Microsoft allows dacadoo to further expand the impact of our patented Health Score and AI-driven lifestyle navigation by integrating with one of the leading technology companies in the world,' said Peter Ohnemus, President & CEO of dacadoo. 'Having worked with Microsoft over the last three decades around database technology, business process, and reengineering, we are now working together to drive the next growth and technology platform for helping organizations to engage their customers more effectively and overall supporting healthier populations via our dacadoo Predict & Prevent strategy.' 'At Microsoft, we're committed to empowering organizations across industries with trusted, innovative solutions that drive meaningful impact,' said Elena Bonfiglioli, General Manager, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Microsoft. 'Our collaboration with dacadoo reflects our belief that AI can play a transformative role in improving people's lives through more personalized experiences, stronger community connections, and better health outcomes. We're pleased to collaborate with dacadoo to integrate their Digital Health Engagement Platform with Microsoft Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models to deliver the next generation of digital health engagement solutions.' Early conversations with top insurance firms are well on their way as they explore Microsoft AI integration in the Digital Health Engagement Platform. With aligned global footprints and complementary expertise, dacadoo and Microsoft are leading the next wave of digital health transformation — one that blends prevention, real-time care, hyper-personalized Lifestyle Navigation and responsible AI into a unified consumer experience around the patented Health Score, Wheel of Life and Risk Engine, which can score mortality and morbidity in real-time (what you can understand, you can improve). About dacadoo dacadoo is a Swiss-based technology company that develops technology solutions for digital health engagement and health risk quantification. Our Enterprise SaaS based digital health engagement platform (DHEP) is a mobile-first solution that leverages behavioral science, AI, and gamification to help end-users improve their health outcomes while helping clients to improve customer engagement and loyalty through personalization. This platform is available in over 18 languages and can be licensed as a white label offering or through APIs to develop/enhance custom solutions. Our award-winning Risk Engine, which calculates relative risk on mortality and morbidity in real-time, is also available for license through APIs. dacadoo's global employees are committed to making the world a healthier place. We strongly value security and privacy, with an Information Security and Privacy Management System certified to ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 standards. Press inquiries dacadoo Masako Boskovski marketing@ Othmarstrasse 8. CH-8008 Zurich Switzerland 擷取數據時發生錯誤 登入存取你的投資組合 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤