Xbox Cuts 3,600 Jobs as Game Pass Retreat Follows $70 Billion Call of Duty Bet
Updated
Updated · Kotaku · Jul 20
Xbox Cuts 3,600 Jobs as Game Pass Retreat Follows $70 Billion Call of Duty Bet
3 articles · Updated · Kotaku · Jul 20
Summary
Xbox’s overhaul under CEO Asha Sharma includes 3,600 layoffs, studio cuts and a sharper focus on Halo, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls and Minecraft.
Game Pass drove the reset after subscriber losses accelerated following a major price hike tied to adding Call of Duty day-and-date, according to former Forza Horizon 5 director Mike Brown.
Microsoft later lowered the subscription price and removed Call of Duty from the service’s day-one commitment, retreating from a strategy that once targeted more than 100 million subscribers.
Brown said Xbox had invested heavily in Game Pass to fund studios and jobs, arguing the model was well-intentioned but failed to attract enough paying users to stay viable.
The shift deepens a broader rethink of Game Pass, which recent reports said Xbox leaders increasingly see as unsustainable and damaging to game values.