Microsoft съкращава 4,800 работни места, като Xbox намалява и планира да отдели четири гейминг студиа.

Microsoft is laying off 4,800 employees after carrying out a voluntary retirement programme. The cuts represent about 2.1% of the company’s global workforce.

The layoffs are part of the technology giant’s latest effort to reduce costs in the era of artificial intelligence. The company’s Xbox video game division will lose about one-fifth of its staff, while several studios will become independent.

The restructuring of the gaming business will involve 3,200 job cuts, including 1,600 roles eliminated on Monday. Xbox will cut a total of 3,200 people through fiscal year 2027, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wrote in an email to division employees.

The way technology is built, deployed and used is transforming faster than at any point in my time here, Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s chief people officer and a 27-year company veteran, wrote in a message to employees.

The Xbox restructuring will involve the divestment of several studios, Sharma said in a note to employees. South of Midnight producer Compulsion Games and Psychonauts maker Double Fine Productions will become independent studios. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs will be spun off to grow Senua and State of Decay 3.

Microsoft said on Monday it would cut 4,800 jobs, or about 2.1% of its global workforce, while overhauling its Xbox gaming business and divesting up to five studios. The aim is to boost returns after years of heavy investment in the division.

Microsoft’s stock was down 19% for the year as of Friday’s close, trailing its large-cap technology peers.

Amazon and Meta Platforms have also laid off thousands of employees this year. Big Tech’s historic spending on artificial intelligence, expected to top $700 billion this year, is increasing pressure on companies to show returns from the technology and offset the rising cost of rolling it out across their businesses.

The management of Arkane Studios, which developed Dishonored and is currently working on a game based on the Marvel Comics character Blade, has started consultations with its workers’ union in France to review options, Sharma added.