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☆ Microsoft to cut 650 jobs at its Xbox gaming unit — read the full memo from top exec Phil Spencer
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-12 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesMicrosoft on Thursday said that it is cutting 650 roles at its Xbox gaming division, in the latest major round of layoffs to hit the video game industry. It marks the third series of redundancies in Microsoft's video game unit since the company's blockbuster acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the publisher behind the Call of Duty franchise, for $69 billion in cash. In a memo obtained by CNBC, Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, told employees that the firm had taken this "difficult" decision to align its post-acquisition team structure and "organize our business for long term success." Bethesda publishes major gaming titles, such as the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series. Major gaming studios have cut thousands of jobs around the world, beginning in 2023 and continuing into 2024.

Persons: Phil Spencer, Patrick T, Spencer, Japan's, Playtika Organizations: Microsoft, Fallon, Bloomberg, Getty, Activision Blizzard, Duty, CNBC, Microsoft Gaming, Xbox, Activision, ZeniMax Media, Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda, Japan's Sony, PlayStation, Gaming Locations: Los Angeles, U.S

☆ PlayStation is laying off 900 people globally — read the full email employees received about it
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Shubhangi Goel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AdvertisementSony Interactive Entertainment is laying off about 900 people from the PlayStation division. PlayStation Studios' London studio will close, Ryan wrote. Ryan will retire at the end of March, as he wrote in a press release shared in September. In January, Microsoft announced it's laying off 1,900 staff members across Activision Blizzard, Xbox, and ZeniMax. All employees who are part of the collective consultation will be made aware of the next steps today.

Persons: Jim Ryan, Ryan, Jim Organizations: Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation, Asia Pacific, PlayStation Studios, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Unity, Business, Sony Locations: Americas, Europe, Japan, Asia, EMEA

☆ Microsoft's Xbox boss says jacking up video game prices can end up being 'manipulative'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Xbox games may be more expensive now, but Microsoft's gaming CEO realizes that there's a limit to how much gamers will take. "We've raised the price of games," Phil Spencer, the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, told Game File, a newsletter focused on the business of gaming. AdvertisementBack in December 2022, Microsoft told The Verge that it would be raising prices to reflect "the content, scale, and technical complexity of these titles." "Skull and Bones," an action-adventure game for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox consoles, got some flack for charging $70 for its highly anticipated game. Ubisoft, the company behind the pirate video game, defended the price because it was a "quadruple-A" game.

Persons: We've, Phil Spencer, Spencer, didn't, Neil Macker, flack, they're Organizations: Xbox, Microsoft Gaming, Business, Microsoft, Hollywood, Morningstar, Nintendo, Sony, Ubisoft, PlayStation, Activision Blizzard Locations: COVID

☆ Microsoft will bring four Xbox games to other companies' consoles
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Phil Spencer, CEO of gaming at Microsoft, speaks during the company's Xbox event ahead of the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on June 10, 2018. Microsoft said on Thursday that it will release four of its video games on competing consoles. Microsoft completed the acquisition of prominent video game publisher Activision Blizzard for over $75 billion in October. Many Xbox fans expressed frustration on social media, speculating that Microsoft will give up trying to keep exclusive games on its console in the future. Earlier this week, The Verge reported that games such as Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment and Sea of Thieves would be coming to non-Microsoft consoles.

Persons: Phil Spencer, Spencer, Indiana Jones, We've Organizations: Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo, Indiana, Xbox, PlayStation, Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax Media Locations: Los Angeles, Bethesda, Pentiment

☆ Microsoft lays off 1,900 workers, nearly 9% of gaming division, after Activision Blizzard acquisition
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra said Thursday on social media platform X he would be leaving Microsoft and Blizzard. Activision Blizzard is the publisher and developer of several massive gaming franchises, including Call of Duty and Diablo. Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard was the company's largest ever acquisition, more than double the size of its 2016 purchase of LinkedIn. Unlike the Microsoft layoffs, eBay and SAP saw a significant bump in their share prices following their announcements. Read the full memo below:It's been a little over three months since the Activision, Blizzard, and King teams joined Microsoft.

Persons: Phil Spencer, Mike Ybarra, Spencer, Activision Blizzard, Candy, It's, we'll, I'm, Phil CNBC's Steve Kovach Organizations: Microsoft, CNBC, Activision Blizzard, Former, Blizzard, Activision, LinkedIn, Tech, Games, eBay, SAP, King, Microsoft Gaming, Leadership Team, Xbox

NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft is laying off about 1,900 employees in its gaming division, according to an internal company memo, just over three months since the tech giant completed its $69 million purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard. Those impacted worked on teams for Activision Blizzard as well as Xbox and ZeniMax — which are also owned by Microsoft. “As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer wrote in the memo. The union deal was part of a 2022 agreement with the CWA that helped address U.S. political concerns about the merger’s effects. So far, however, only a small set of Activision Blizzard divisions have formed unions.

Persons: Activision Blizzard, Phil Spencer, Mike Ybarra, ” Ybarra, “, ”, _________________ O'Brien Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, Associated Press, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft Gaming, Twitter, European Union, The U.S . Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Google, Riot, eBay, Communications Workers, CWA Locations: United Kingdom, European, U.S, Canada, Providence , Rhode Island

☆ Microsoft is laying off 1,900 workers at Activision, Xbox, and ZeniMax
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Microsoft is laying off 1,900 workers at Activision, Xbox, and ZeniMaxAngle down icon An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. The cuts will mostly impact Activision Blizzard employees, reports say. SOPA/Getty Images

Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, Xbox, Activision Blizzard

Microsoft, which owns the Xbox gaming system, closed its $69 billion deal to buy game-maker Activision Blizzard on Friday after fending off global opposition from antitrust regulators and rivals. It marks a career-defining moment for Spencer, who first joined Microsoft as an intern in 1988 and has helmed Xbox since 2014. When the companies announced a planned merger in January 2022, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made clear it would be "critical for Activision Blizzard to drive forward” on its commitments to improve its workplace culture. As of late last year, Activision Blizzard had 13,000 employees, about 72% in North America, according to a regulatory filing. “It is a new day for workers at Activision Blizzard,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. in a statement Friday.

Persons: Phil Spencer, Spencer, “, ”, Gil Luria, Davidson, he’s, Bobby Kotick, who's, Kotick, Satya Nadella, Joe Biden's, ” Luria, George Jijiashvili, Elder, ” Jijiashvili, Claude Cummings Jr, ” Cummings Organizations: Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, Activision, PlayStation, Sony, U.S . Federal Trade, ZeniMax Media, Bethesda Softworks, Communications Workers of America Locations: Southern California, U.S, United Kingdom, San Francisco, Bethesda, North America, Canada

REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) gaming master plan is slowly coming together. But Microsoft’s gaming revenue was still around 8% of group sales, or $15 billion, for the year ended June 2022. Given these risks, it makes sense for Nadella to grow his exposure to those parts of the gaming market which are less likely to be upended by cloud gaming. It remains possible that cloud gaming is a dog that doesn’t bark – or at least not for some time. As a result of the Activision deal, Nadella has a hedge of sorts against cloud gaming happening too fast.

Persons: Kevork, Satya Nadella’s, Ampere, ”, GamesIndustry.biz, Nadella, George Hay, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Activision, REUTERS, Reuters, Bethesda, Microsoft, Satya Nadella’s Activision, Ampere, Sony, Nintendo, Reuters Graphics, Netflix, Gamers, Xbox, PlayStation, Big Tech, Apple, HK, reckons, Competition, Markets Authority, CMA, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Ubisoft Entertainment, Ubisoft, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles , California, United States, U.S

☆ Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer says Starfield is seeing 'huge demand'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, appears at the Political Opening of the Gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany, on Aug. 23, 2023. Microsoft is seeing "huge demand" for its new Starfield video game, Phil Spencer, the software company's CEO of gaming, said Wednesday. Microsoft picked up the game through its $8.1 billion acquisition of game publisher ZeniMax, the parent of Bethesda. Spencer said Starfield is the most wish-listed game the company has had on the Steam game store. Spencer said tens of millions of Game Pass subscribers were getting a chance to play Starfield on Wednesday.

Persons: Phil Spencer, Spencer, CNBC's Steve Kovach, ZeniMax, Jim Ryan, Ryan, We've, we've, Starfield Organizations: Microsoft Gaming, Microsoft, Microsoft's Bethesda Game Studios, PlayStation, Gaming, Activision Blizzard, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Activision, Sony, Nintendo, Markets Authority, Ubisoft Locations: Cologne, Germany, Microsoft's, Bethesda, San Francisco

☆ Activision Blizzard jumps 11% after judge rules Microsoft can buy the video game publisher in a win over FTC
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Max Adams | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Activision Blizzard stock popped 11% after a judge paved the way for Microsoft to complete its takeover of the game publisher. She said the deal would in fact enhance access to popular game franchises like "Call of Duty" and other titles published by Activision. The company has said it is concerned that Microsoft will make popular franchises like "Call of Duty" exclusive to its consoles. Microsoft has said it doesn't intent to do this, but critics point to the firm's $11 billion takeover of Zenimax in 2021. The deal can now proceed before a hearing that the FTC had scheduled for August, in which it was set to challenge the merger.

Persons: Microsoft's, Jaqueline Scott Corley, Biden, Bobby Kotick Organizations: Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, Federal Trade Commission, Service, Privacy, US, FTC, Activision, That's, Sony, Xbox Locations: Wall, Silicon, Zenimax

☆ A Microsoft worker who successfully unionized sees a 'wave of labor organizing that will take over the country.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Monica Melton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tech workers are on edge after layoffs, benefits cuts, and pay pressure. The recent tsunami of tech layoffs could leave a wave ofunion organizing in its wake. Dhaundiyal agreed with Hinnant that for lower-level tech workers the call to unionize rings louder. The hundreds of thousands of tech jobs that have been lost could serve as a catalyst to embolden workers. "That extra bravery is the wave of labor organizing that will take over the country."

Persons: what's, Skylar, ZeniMax, Hinnant, Rahul Dhaundiyal, retrenchment, you've, Dhaundiyal Organizations: Microsoft

An Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare video game is inserted into the Microsoft's Xbox One video game console arranged in Denver, Colorado, on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Shares of Activision Blizzard surged Friday, after the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority narrowed the scope of its investigation into Microsoft 's takeover of the games publisher. The development marks a partial win for Microsoft, as it pursues an expansion of its video game business. Among its concerns, the regulator flagged that the deal would cause a substantial lessening of competition in the console gaming market. With this new evidence, the CMA now says it no longer believes the transaction will hamper competition in console games.

☆ Xbox CEO says Microsoft's layoffs were 'painful choices,' after tech giant announced 10,000 job cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said Microsoft's layoffs were "painful" in an email to staff. Video game blog Kotaku obtained a copy of Spencer's email to staff working in Microsoft's gaming division. Kotaku obtained a copy of a company-wide email — through a current Xbox employee — sent by Spencer to all full-time staff in Microsoft's gaming division. "This is a challenging moment in our business, and this week's actions were painful choices," Spencer wrote in the email. The layoffs affected Microsoft's gaming studios including 343 Industries, Bethesda Game Studios, and its parent company ZeniMax Media, according to Bloomberg.

☆ Microsoft Workers to Form Company’s First Union in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Sarah E. Needleman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A group of Microsoft Corp. employees has voted to form the software company’s first labor union in the U.S., marking the latest example of workers from top tech companies organizing in recent years. The group comprises about 300 quality-assurance testers in Microsoft’s ZeniMax unit, the Communications Workers of America, which is representing it, said on Tuesday. Just a handful of U.S.-based unions exist in the videogame industry.

☆ Microsoft recognized its first labor union in the US after staff at $7.5 billion video game firm ZeniMax Studios voted to unionize
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft recognized its first US labor union, the Communications Workers of America said, Tuesday. Around 300 workers at Microsoft subsidiary ZeniMax Studios voted to unionize in December. Microsoft agreed to voluntarily recognize the union if workers voted to unionize in December, per Reuters. Union workers can petition to the National Labor Relations Board to force their employer to recognize their union, but the process is long and arduous. Microsoft and ZeniMax Studios did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ Video game workers form Microsoft’s first U.S. labor union
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A group of video game testers is forming Microsoft’s first labor union in the U.S., which will also be the largest in the video game industry. Communications Workers of America said Tuesday that about 300 quality-assurance workers at Microsoft video game subsidiary ZeniMax Studios have voted to join the union. The unionization campaign was sparked, in part, by Microsoft’s ongoing bid to buy California-based game giant Activision Blizzard. Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Washington, made a June pact with the CWA union to stay neutral if Activision Blizzard workers sought to form a union. Microsoft’s legally binding agreement specifically applied to Activision Blizzard workers after the closing of the merger.

☆ Microsoft recognizes its first union as ZeniMax software testers organize
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images)Microsoft said Tuesday that it has recognized its first union of employees in the software maker's 47-year history. Last year, Microsoft said it would support approaches that would make it simpler for its employees to join unions. A supermajority of ZeniMax workers said they wanted to join the union, the CWA said in a statement. Microsoft operates 23 internal game studios in addition to selling Xbox consoles and operating gaming services such as Game Pass subscription packages. The workers become the largest group of quality-assurance testers at any U.S. game studio, the CWA said.

In a statement provided to CNN, Microsoft said it has agreed to recognize the union. “Microsoft has lived up to its commitment to its workers and let them decide for themselves whether they want a union,” CWA president Chris Shelton said in a statement. Some companies like Amazon have so far refused to recognize workers who have voted to form a union. The union bid at the Microsoft subsidiary, however, stands out from some of the others because of Microsoft’s openness to employee organizing efforts. Microsoft last year entered into a neutrality agreement with the CWA, which is also supporting organizing efforts from workers at Activision Blizzard, the gaming giant Microsoft agreed to acquire for $68.7 billion.

Jan 3 (Reuters) - A group of about 300 videogame testers at Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) subsidiary Zenimax Studios have voted to unionize, the Communication Workers of America union (CWA) said on Tuesday, marking a first for the tech giant in the United States. The CWA said Zenimax employees at four locations in Maryland and Texas voted overwhelmingly to join the union, but did not provide a tally. Microsoft in a statement provided by a spokesperson said it would follow through on an earlier promise to voluntary recognize the union if the workers voted to join. CWA President Christopher Shelton in a statement said Microsoft has set itself apart from other tech companies that have discouraged union campaigns. Game testers at Activision units Blizzard Albany and Raven Software voted in 2022 to join unions amid claims by the CWA that the company has threatened and retaliated against union supporters.

☆ Microsoft responds to FTC case seeking to block Activision Blizzard deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft on Thursday filed its response to U.S. regulators' antitrust case attempting to block the software maker from buying video-game publisher Activision Blizzard . But then Microsoft revealed its plan to buy Activision Blizzard. To relieve government opposition to the deal, Microsoft has offered concessions. "Sony refuses to deal," Microsoft said in its filing. In the months since then, two groups of Activision Blizzard employees have voted to form unions.

"The legal precedent is not on the side of the FTC," said Andre Barlow, an antitrust lawyer at Doyle, Barlow & Mazard PLLC. Barlow pointed to three recent mergers challenged by the FTC or Justice Department that were ultimately allowed to proceed. Those cases share something else in common with the proposed Microsoft deal: in each instance, a company would merge with a supplier in a so-called "vertical" merger. "Vertical merger challenges are really difficult to win so it will be an uphill battle for the FTC," said Roger Alford, who teaches law at the University of Notre Dame. Reuters reported last month that Microsoft was expected to offer remedies to EU antitrust regulators in the coming weeks to stave off formal objections to the deal.

☆ The FTC is suing to block Microsoft's $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The FTC filed a challenge seeking to stop Microsoft from buying Activision Blizzard, known for blockbuster games like Call of Duty. The $68.7 billion deal is Microsoft's largest and the biggest in the history of the video game industry. The $68.7 billion deal is Microsoft's largest, not to mention the biggest in the video game industry. In a letter to employees Thursday, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick reiterated his "confidence" that the deal will go through. "The competitive landscape is shifting, and, simply put, a combined Microsoft-ABK will be good for players, good for employees, good for competition and good for the industry.

☆ Microsoft could soon have its first union
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The workers are organizing with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union and have until the end of December to vote on it. Microsoft has agreed to recognize the union if a majority of the workers vote in favor of it, according to the CWA. The union bid at the Microsoft subsidiary, however, stands out from some of the others because Microsoft has previously vowed to recognize the rights of workers to organize. Slack said Microsoft has been “very accommodating” throughout the process, ever since organizers first approached the company about the union. “They understand that it’s a right and they wanted to leave it up to the workers,” Slack said.

Dec 5 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) will voluntarily recognize a union of about 300 videogame testers at subsidiary ZeniMax Studios if they vote to unionize, a first for the company in the United States, the Communication Workers of America union (CWA) said on Monday. Voluntarily agreeing to bargain with the union would allow Microsoft to avoid a formal election overseen by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board and the legal battles that often ensue. The company in June entered into an agreement with the CWA to remain neutral in union organizing campaigns at Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O), which Microsoft is seeking to purchase for $69 billion. Game testers at Activision units Blizzard Albany and Raven Software have voted this year to join unions amid claims by the CWA that the company has threatened and retaliated against union supporters. Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York Editing by Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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