- Microsoft is laying off hundreds of workers across Activision Blizzard and Xbox, The Verge reported.
- Employees at video game holding company ZeniMax are also impacted, the report said.
Microsoft has announced that it's laying off 1,900 staff across Activision Blizzard, Xbox, and ZeniMax.
The news was first reported by The Verge.
The layoffs mostly affect employees at video game firm Activision Blizzard, but some workers in its Xbox division and holding company ZeniMax will also be impacted, the report said.
The cuts were announced in a memo, which was obtained by The Verge and sent to employees by Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer.
Spencer reportedly highlighted a need to create a "sustainable cost structure" in the memo.
He wrote, "It's been a little over three months since the Activision, Blizzard, and King teams joined 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 hit a record-high valuation of over $3 trillion this week, the second company after Apple to hit that mark. The cuts at the "Call of Duty" maker come less than three months after its $69 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard was finalized.
Last January the tech giant announced it was reducing its workforce by 10,000 employees. It then cut a further 1,000 roles across sales and customer service teams in July.
The latest round of layoffs comes as thousands of employees in the tech industry have been cut so far this year. More than 23,000 tech workers have lost their jobs in cuts made this month alone, according to data from Layoffs.fyi.
Google has laid off hundreds of employees in its core engineering and hardware teams. Hundreds of staff have also been cut from Amazon's Prime Video, MGM Studios, and its Audible audiobook and podcast division.
In an internal memo, Google CEO Sundar Pichai also warned staff that further cuts would come this year.
Microsoft didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.