NewsNovo
For years, Microsoft was one of the few reliable acquirers in independent game development, writing checks that venture-backed studios could count on. The company is now dismantling that reputation.
Monday's announcement of thousands of Xbox layoffs and the divestiture of five gaming studios signals something more structural than a bad quarter.
The case for calling it a retreat Asha Sharma, the Xbox group CEO, framed the situation without softening. "Our business today is not healthy," she wrote in a memo to staff.
"We must reset Xbox." The financial logic was equally direct: in a typical year, Microsoft lost 64 cents for every dollar it invested in small and mid-sized studios.
Keep reading