Microsoft Lays Off 1,900 Employees In Its Gaming Division Following Activision Blizzard Buyout

NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft is laying off about 1,900 employees in its gaming division, according to an internal company memo, just over three months since the tech giant completed its $69 million purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard.

The job cuts represent about an 8% reduction of Microsoft’s 22,000-person gaming workforce, the memo, obtained by The Associated Press Thursday, notes.

Those impacted worked on teams for Activision Blizzard as well as Xbox and ZeniMax — which are also owned by Microsoft.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Blizzard president Mike Ybarra announced that he would be leaving the company in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Thursday.