Microsoft wanted to strengthen its Xbox business by purchasing Activision Blizzard.Image: keystone
July 6, 2026, 5:01 p.mJuly 6, 2026, 5:01 p.m
Microsoft wanted to strengthen its Xbox business with the $69 billion (55.7 billion francs) purchase of Activision Blizzard – but the division is still struggling with problems. Now a “reset” should help.
Microsoft is cutting around 3,200 jobs at the Xbox video game division and wants to drastically change the business. According to US media reports, around a fifth of the sector’s jobs will be lost. “Our business is not healthy today,” wrote Xbox boss Asha Sharma in an email to employees. Some work goes through 14 management levels and the complex organization slows down decisions. After the “reset”, there should only be three to five management levels in the future.
In the first step, 1,600 jobs will be cut immediately, with the remainder to be eliminated within twelve months. It was “the most significant renovation in Xbox history,” wrote Sharma.
The goal is one billion users every day
In addition, four game development studios are leaving the group. Among other things, Sharma pointed out that the number of players and the time they spend gaming on the Xbox platform have decreased in recent years.
Microsoft had already cut thousands of jobs after the $69 billion takeover of the video game company Activision Blizzard at the end of 2023. At the same time, Sharma wrote that she was aiming for future growth for the Xbox business with the restructuring and wanted the company to reach more than a billion users a day over time. (maw/sda/awp/dpa)