Microsoft and Xbox layoffs today: Tech giant cuts 4,800 jobs, including 20% of video game staff, amid AI shift

Microsoft announced 4,800 layoffs, including 20% of its Xbox division, as part of a cost-cutting restructuring to focus on artificial intelligence. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma cited weak business performance and a severe hardware crisis, with 3,200 gaming jobs eliminated over fiscal 2027 and four studios spun off. Shares fell over 1% on the news.

Microsoft https://www.fastcompany.com/section/microsoft announced on Monday it is laying off 4,800 employees, or 2.1% of its workforce—with more to come—as part of a massive cost-cutting restructuring effort. The layoffs include major cuts from its Xbox division. In a memo https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/07/06/resetting-xbox/ to staffers, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said Microsoft was “resetting Xbox” and would be cutting a total of 3,200 employees, or 20% of that division, throughout fiscal 2027—including spinning off four gaming studios. Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will become independent studios, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs will be spun off. This amounts to eliminating 1,600 roles now and another 1,600 in the coming year, as the company focuses on artificial intelligence https://www.fastcompany.com/section/artificial-intelligence AI and away from its lagging gaming sector. This is just the latest round of layoffs for the tech giant, coming a year after the company eliminated 9,000 jobs https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/02/microsoft-laying-off-about-9000-employees-in-latest-round-of-cuts.html . “Our business today is not healthy,” Sharma said. “We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses.” So, what happened? According to Sharma, “ Microsoft’s core business weakened, and they added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history.” The move comes just ten days after Microsoft announced https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/06/25/xbox-console-price-update/ it would again be raising the price on its Xbox by $100 on the 512 GB model, and $150 on the 1 TB model. That’s after Microsoft raised all Xbox prices by $20 to $70 last year, as Fast Company previously reported https://www.fastcompany.com/91565769/why-your-next-xbox-ipad-or-laptop-may-suddenly-cost-hundreds-more . Microsoft also recently raised prices https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/technology/apple-prices-macbooks-ipads.html for its Surface laptops. Like Apple https://www.fastcompany.com/91565256/the-surprising-apple-product-that-was-spared-from-todays-price-hikes-iphone-ipad-macbook , which also recently increased the prices on its best-selling products with the exception of the iPhone , Microsoft blamed AI-fueled memory and storage shortages for the consumer hike. Shares of Microsoft MSFT https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/MSFT/ were down over 1% in Monday midday trading at the time of this writing, after closing down nearly 19% this year as of Friday’s closing bell.