After yesterday’s Xbox demo, Phil Spencer touched on the layoffs that took place in May at Bethesda subsidiaries such as Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin.
Talking to IGN Ryan McCaffrey, head of Microsoft Gaming, called the cuts and closures “very difficult” for those affected. At the same time, he emphasized that he must “run a sustainable business within the company and grow” and made a tough call.
“Sometimes I have to make tough decisions that, frankly, are not decisions that I love,” he explained, “but decisions that somebody has to make.”
Spencer went on to explain that he remained silent on the matter out of respect for the fired employees. While making sure the “right things” were done to these employees (like firing them), he didn’t want to make it “about my PR, [or] Xbox PR. It’s about those teams.”
Layoffs can be very tough, but necessary
His comments are no different from Sony’s similar comments at the end of May. Talking to PlayStation dismissals from February, Sony Hideaki Nishina said that these 900 job cuts had to be made when Sony had the opportunity to properly reinvest in the future.
That talent contributed to Sony’s fortunes “in a good way,” Nishino said at the time, but “future growth” meant they had to leave.
At the Xbox Show, Spencer, president Sarah Bond and head of content and studios Matt Booty expressed their pride in the subsidiaries under the Microsoft umbrella. But there are such sentiments blown up thanks to the cuts made by Xbox just over a month ago.
And if those layoffs are still ongoing, they’re troubling because of some of the names on display at the event, such as troubled Perfect dark or MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
During an IGN chat, Spencer confirmed that Xbox will move away from the layoffs, saying the company will “continue to move forward with the layoffs” to build the best business we can. [It’ll] to ensure that we can continue to do shows like the one we just did.”