Xbox Fans Urge Company to End Layoff Cycle on Player Voice Portal

Fans are increasingly frustrated with the ongoing wave of layoffs at Xbox, expressing their concerns on the newly launched Player Voice Portal. A recent post calling for an end to studio closures has gained traction, amassing over 3,000 upvotes. This discontent follows years of cuts and cancellations within the gaming division of the tech giant, which, despite its profitability, has faced significant turmoil.

“The layoff of 3,200 workers at Xbox (including teams from Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, Obsidian, id Software, and Xbox Game Studios) is unacceptable,” states the top-trending post on the feedback portal. “This continues a troubling trend that has resulted in over 10,000 layoffs at Xbox in just two years. Several studios have been shut down or had their futures put in jeopardy (including Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios), and numerous games have been canceled. Developers and players alike agree that this cannot continue.” (Note: while Microsoft as a whole has seen over 10,000 layoffs in the past two years, the specific number for Xbox is lower).

User Witt Yao has outlined a series of demands aimed at ensuring the current corporate reset aligns with the needs of the Xbox community.

The first point criticizes Xbox for showcasing footage of State of Decay 3 and teasing a new Hellblade at its summer event, only for the developers of those titles, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs, to be spun off shortly after. While the compensation details for Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and her leadership team remain unclear, it is known that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s total compensation soared to $96 million for the 2025 fiscal year.

Despite Sharma presenting her reset of Xbox as a necessary correction after the company overextended itself during the Game Pass era, the reality is that significant layoffs have become alarmingly routine. Approximately 1,900 employees were laid off in early 2024, followed by around 650 later that year. More developers faced cuts in July 2025, and the latest round of layoffs is not yet complete, with another 1,600 staff members at risk over the next year.

“I especially agree that layoffs are a failure of leadership,” commented one user on the Xbox feedback portal. “These are talented developers. If you can’t find a way to profit from their skills, the failure lies with the leadership.” Another user echoed this sentiment, stating, “There is absolutely no reason to let this many experienced individuals go. These people have significantly shaped gaming over the years. Microsoft is jeopardizing the livelihoods of thousands without benefiting anyone. I will not be renewing my Game Pass.”