It’s only been a month since 2024 began, and the layoffs have already started to affect the video gaming industry. Microsoft recently laid off employees to reduce its workforce, which saw nearly 2000 employees cut from its video game division, including Call of Duty developer studios like Sledgehammer Games, High Moon Studio, Treyarch, Infinity Ward, and more.
The layoffs come after Microsoft acquired Call of Duty owner Activision Blizzard and the departure of Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick. While Microsoft wanted to bring more content, the massive layoffs across studios will make it hard to achieve that and have left the future of the $31 billion franchise in shambles.
Major Call of Duty Studios Affected by the Latest Round of Layoffs
The main studios that the latest layoffs have impacted include Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Xbox. Microsoft acquired Zenimax in 2021. According to a report, Sledgehammer Games, the studio behind games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Advanced Warfare, has lost nearly 30% of its staff. It is said that nearly 150 to 300 staff have been cut, given that the studio states to employ between 500 and 1000 staff.
Toys for Bob, which has assisted studios in titles like Call of Duty: Warzone and Modern Warfare 2, has also lost over 30% of its staff, meaning that the studio has lost nearly 35-40 employees. High Moon Studio has also lost 10% of staff, with every major Call of Duty studio like Treyarch, Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Solid State Studios, Beenox, and Demonware losing staff as well.
The figures related to the layoffs at some of the studios haven’t been known, but they are said to be massive. The layoffs have affected Sledgehammer so badly that it has reportedly left its main office in California and is now looking for a smaller office area. The staff will currently work remotely until a new office is found.
As for Infinity Ward, it is reported that the entire IT department has been sacked, bringing the number down to a single person. The massive layoffs come after Microsoft laid off employees at Bethesda, 343 Industries, and other studios last year. The positions that have seen job cuts include developers, community management staff, artists, marketing, engineering, combat design, QA, and many more.
The Layoffs Leave the Popular Franchise’s Future Uncertain
Several of the now-former employees have announced that they have been laid off across social media sites such as LinkedIn. Austin O’Brien, community manager at Raven Software, revealed that he’d been laid off. Ethan Pflugh, environment artist at Sledgehammer Games, also announced that he has been laid off after 3 years at the studio.
Sledgehammer system designer Brad Dallaire has also been let go, and the former senior quality assurance lead at the studio said that it has lost almost the entire team. The massive job cuts at the Call of Duty studios have left the future of the franchise uncertain, as this could affect the yearly titles, with a Call of Duty title already being reported to launch sometime in 2024.
This could also affect the delivery of content and seasonal updates to Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone, and players might see delays and quality of updates, which has always been a major issue with numerous game-breaking bugs and other technical issues. It might also result in player decline and even the quality of titles as a whole, and CoD needs to avoid that as a franchise after the whole Modern Warfare 3 blunder.
What are your thoughts about the layoffs across Call of Duty studios? How do you think it affects the franchise? Let us know in the comment section below.
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