More cuts at Xbox are reportedly on the way, with some staff at ZeniMax getting offered voluntary severance agreements this week. This news comes from a Bloomberg report that says employees across the Xbox organization have been told more cuts are on the way.
The publication also reports the reason Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin were shut down this week is because they were in the process of pitching new projects and hiring additional staff for said projects, something suggested by ZeniMax head Jill Braff and Xbox president Matt Booty during a town hall held this week. Xbox and ZeniMax chose to shut these studios down, both in the beginning processes of creating a new game, instead of closing a studio deeper in development on projects.
Elsewhere in Bloomberg’s report, which details an internal town hall held at Xbox following the studio closures this week, Booty reportedly described its studios as spread too thin, like “peanut butter on bread,” and that leaders across the company felt understaffed. Xbox closed three studios and had ZeniMax Online Studios absorb Roundhouse Games to free up resources. Braff said during the meeting, “It’s hard to support nine studios all across the world with a lean central team with an ever-growing plate of things to do. I think we were about to topple over.”
[Source: Bloomberg]
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