14 DAY TRIAL // The Microsoft Studios division announces that it is letting a number of its employees go, although it is not yet ready to offer any clear details on how many staffers are affected and what is the main reason why they are no longer needed.
VG247 has seen a number of Twitter messages from those who were laid off, some of whom have already moved to other projects, which might suggest that they knew about the move in advance.
It seems that none of the projects actively in development for the Xbox One home console have been affected.
A representative from Microsoft states that, “At Xbox, our goal is to constantly create new fun, social and interactive entertainment experiences. As part of our commitment to this goal, we are always evaluating our development priorities, and there are times when decisions need to be made to realign plans and refocus our efforts.”
This is basically a type of non-answer that does not give fans of the company any real information about its internal state.
He adds, “Microsoft Studios continues to grow as an overall organization as we focus and invest in key priority areas that will drive future profitable growth.”
The layoffs might be linked to a wider restructuring that follows the move of Phil Spencer to the top leadership position for the entire Xbox division, which handles both hardware and software for the two core Microsoft consoles.
The new boss might be eliminating projects that no longer make sense for the future in order to better distribute the resources that he has available.
Microsoft has promised that it has a plan to deliver almost monthly firmware updates for the Xbox One, adding new functionality that the community has suggested and fixing any issues that are affecting the device.
At the same time, the company is working on first-party titles for the platform and it seems that a number of high-profile releases will be confirmed at E3 2014, including a new Halo title that has been teased since the Xbox One was first shown to gamers.
Also, Microsoft is courting indie developers via the new ID@Xbox program and says that more than 250 teams currently have access to developer hardware.
The Xbox One is lagging behind the rival PlayStation 4 from Sony in term of sales at the moment, although the launch of Titanfall might have changed the situation for March.