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Xbox layoffs to impact King, Zenimax and more

Since completing the $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in late 2023, Microsoft has been looking to pump up Xbox's profit margins. That effort has already led to several rounds of job cuts, with another now set to take place this week. 

Last month it emerged that Microsoft was intending to announce another round of company-wide job cuts. Now, Bloomberg reports that several studios across the Xbox / Microsoft Gaming branch have now been informed of the cuts being made.

It is reported that King, based in Barcelona and a key part of the Activision Blizzard acquisition, will be reducing its job count by 10%, which will lead to around 200 people losing their jobs. Other Europe-based offices for subsidiaries like Zenimax are also beginning to inform employees of layoffs.

The full scope of the layoffs still needs to be established but Microsoft has begun informing employees, which means a public announcement is likely to roll in soon.

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KitGuru Says: This is the fourth round of layoffs at Microsoft since completing the Activision Blizzard acquisition. Hopefully we don't end up seeing any studios shut down in this new shake-up. 

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