A new report has described an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear among remaining staff at Xbox following recent restructuring by Microsoft.
Microsoft announced its Xbox restructuring last week, laying off 1,600 people immediately and planning another 1,600 cuts by next summer.
Staff were kept in the dark about the changes for weeks after initial reports emerged. When announcements arrived, many received only brief one-way video calls with no opportunity to ask questions.
At id Software, affected employees learned of their layoffs just 10 minutes before meetings, after which their access to Slack and email was revoked. The studio lost 136 staff, including 90 percent of its AI and gameplay oversight team.
Sources expressed concern over lost institutional knowledge and the impact on core franchises such as Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. Microsoft also shed studios including Double Fine, Compulsion, Ninja Theory, Undead Labs and Arkane.
