At Zenimax, a subsidiary of Microsoft (and therefore Xbox), the time is not at the party. While Phil Spencer, boss of the Xbox division, recently welcomed in an internal note of record performance (“More players, more games, more hours played than ever”), More than 9,000 employees have been thanked at Microsoft in what has been the third wave of massive layoffs since 2023. A“ success ”at what price, exactly?
Among the studios affected: Rare, Turn 10, The Initiative, but also Zenimax, where hundreds of employees would have lost their posts according to several sources. For remaining employees, the shock is brutal. “” “It is not normal. It’s not human“Declares Autumn Mitchell, Senior QA tester, to the Game Developer site.“No matter how banal Microsoft is trying to make it commonplace: it is not. And it’s not worthy“He continues.
Even the way in which the layoffs were orchestrated with something to shock: several employees have been cut in internal communications (Slack, Email) before even contacted by human resources. Result: generalized confusion, panic, farewell precipitated in team cats that have become corridors of digital tears. We blow, very strong. “” “Make people say goodbye to their colleagues in a hurry, when they have worked on your projects for 15 years … it’s disgusting”Lands up Mitchell. Another employee, Branson page, confirms:“Microsoft did not know how to clarify who was concerned, nor how. It was a shock”.
And then usually, we think (legitically) especially of licensees. But what about those who “survived” the wave of layoffs? Those who are still there, while many of their colleagues were thanked overnight? Necessarily, for the survivors of this HR purge, the evil is deep. The morale is at the bottom, the atmosphere deleterious, and the projects barely maintained afloat. “” “What remains as a carcass of employees must continue to deliver award -winning games”Ironize Mitchell, not without bitterness. For his part, Branson insists on the loss of irreversible practical knowledge:“Key people left overnight. You have to pick up the pieces as we can“She says. The resulting disorganization is not only human: it is also operational.
How far is we going to descend?
Suffice to say that the contrast between the optimistic declarations of Microsoft and the reality experienced in its studios has something to arouse misunderstanding. Talk about “roadmap produces stronger than ever“While removing hundreds of positions, that borders on surrealism.”These layoffs affect real people, families. I would just like a little empathy”Plead Branson. In the absence of dignity, a minimum of decency?
Unfortunately, the case of Zenimax (and Microsoft as a whole) is one more chapter in a black book that thickens from month to month. Just this week, Supermassive Games (The Dark Pictures Anthology) and The Chinese Room (Still Wakes the Deep) announced layoffs. The whole sector is taken in a spiral where precariousness becomes the norm, and where creativity too often serves as a alibi for dehumanized management (hello AI).
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