In an all-new memo published by Asha Sharma about the future of XBOX and the slew of changes coming in the coming months, it was revealed that the company’s investment channels have changed. In a bid to push more money into higher-priority ventures, the team will more heavily fund the likes of Activision, Bethesda, ZeniMax, Blizzard, and Mojang, as well as other XBOX Game Studios.
This news comes as XBOX prepares to undergo the most drastic restructuring in the company’s history. This move will see a massive 15% of employees laid off in the next few months, with 1,600 employees being cut now.
Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Call of Duty, and Minecraft Are Safe
In Asha Sharma’s new memo, it’s written:
We are also making reductions across other units, and in some cases, shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects. These changes vary in size across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and XBOX Game Studios. None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions.
It was suggested in June that XBOX was preparing to boost spending associated with these studios to bring these big-budget titles to market much faster. This is especially true for studios like Bethesda, which takes many years to produce new games, such is the case with The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5.
Asha’s statement confirms those rumors, but it also shows that the team will remain invested, or invest further, in a more diverse palette than we originally thought.
Involving studios like Blizzard and King in the list suggests that they’re eager to support the future of games like World of Warcraft, as well as a slew of mobile games. That’s easy thinking, as mobile games are cash cow products that dominate the industry when it comes to player counts and overall spending.
These changes are coming hand-in-hand with the revelation that XBOX as a business model needs to change, and drastically. The leadership team will restrict management layers, cut vendor spend by 50%, streamline tools, and yes, cut thousands of jobs to put the business in a better place to survive.
Are you shocked to hear today’s sweep of XBOX news? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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