Microsoft is laying off 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard, Xbox and ZeniMax

Microsoft is firing around 1,900 employees who work at the tech giant’s gaming divisions. This mainly concerns staff from Activision Blizzard, but there are also layoffs at Xbox and ZeniMax. This also includes Starfield maker Bethesda.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer says in an internal memo obtained by The Verge that the layoffs are necessary to align the growth strategies of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard. Due to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which was completed last October after a months-long battle, there would be overlap in certain functional areas. After the round of layoffs, around 20,000 people will remain active in the tech giant’s gaming teams. In total, more than 200,000 people work at Microsoft.

Also makes Blizzard President Mike Ybarra announced to leave the company. Microsoft will announce a replacement next week. Allen Adham, chief design officer and co-founder of Blizzard, is also leaving. The changes have resulted in Blizzard’s previously announced survival game, known as Project Odyssey, being cancelled. Some of the staff who worked on the project will be transferred to other projects.

Earlier this month, other gaming companies also announced they were cutting their workforce: Riot Games, Twitch, Discord and Unity. A round of layoffs was also announced at Google. At the beginning of last year, Microsoft also announced a major round of layoffs that resulted in thousands of layoffs. In December, Bobby Kotick left as CEO of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft has not appointed a direct replacement. Kotick’s duties have been taken over by Xbox CEO Matt Booty.