The rumored 2025 Xbox layoffs are expected to impact anywhere between 1000 to 2000 company employees, leading to studio closures.
George Broussard, co-founder of 3D Realms/Apogee, took to Twitter/X to share that, based on his internal developer-level findings on the rumored 2025 Xbox layoffs, people at virtually every studio owned by Microsoft are anxious and worried.
As per what the Duke Nukem developer has heard, entire studios may face closure. Around 1000 to 2000 employees are expected to be affected by these rumored layoffs. He mentioned that the Xbox division has about 10,000 employees in it, which would mean that the layoffs may affect as many as 20%.
Broussard recalled hearing that the subscription service has “leveled off” and isn’t growing at a large rate anymore, but he isn’t aware whether it is a major reason behind the alleged Xbox layoffs. He pointed out that large corporations will always indulge in layoffs simply because they are all about profit, quarters, and costs, etc. He added that the really tough part now is that the industry as a whole is contracting a little, so it may be hard for laid off employees to bounce to a new job in the same location.
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier originally reported on the Xbox division’s latest round of layoffs that are expected to happen next week. According to people familiar with the plans, managers within the company are expecting substantial job cuts across the entire group. This will be the fourth major layoff at Xbox in the last 1.5 years, after three major downsizing last year and the closure of several studios.
2024 was a rough year for the game industry, with many layoffs across the game industry. We sincerely hope that is not the case in 2025, and that all those who may be affected by potential layoffs at Xbox are able to land on their feet with new jobs without having to relocation.
