Microsoft To Lay-Off 1,900 Gaming Division Employees

(RTTNews) - Microsoft (MSFT) is letting go around 1,900 jobs from its video gaming division including Xbox, ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard, the company's Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in a memo to the employees on Thursday.

The memo further explained that the decision was made due to "areas of overlap" between Microsoft Gaming and recently acquired Activision Blizzard. The two companies are aligned "on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business".

Spencer said that the lay-off decision affecting around 8.6 percent of its total 22,000 workforce was a "painful" one. He affirmed that the company would support the employees by providing appropriate severance benefits according to the local employment laws.

The memo also stated the company has cancelled a survival video game called "Odyssey".

The tech giant had acquired Activision Blizzard, the maker of "Call of Duty" and "Warcraft series", in a $69 billion deal last year, making it the company's largest acquisition to date. However, the deal was initially blocked by the Federal Trade Commission claiming that it would hurt the competition in the gaming industry. Later it was approved after the federal court ruled in favor of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard.

In another internal memo, Microsoft's game content and studios president Matt Booty informed that Blizzard Entertainment President Mike Ybarra and design chief Allen Adham are leaving the company.

The recent Microsoft lay-off joins the series of cut down going in the video gaming industry, where recently 530 employees from Riot Games, and around 500 employees from Amazon's gaming streaming company Twitch were laid off.