People are starting to speak out following the layoffs carried out by Xbox in early July. The website Game Developer has gathered statements from several anonymous sources.
They describe the harshness of the announcement made to employees at Bethesda, ZeniMax Online Studios, and id Software. A very brief video conference was used to notify those most directly affected. Chats were disabled, microphones muted, and cameras automatically turned off to prevent negative reactions or questions. These calls may have lasted less than 60 seconds.
Some employees were notified very late not to come into the office on Monday… so much so that some were already on their way when they heard the news. The Slack messaging platform was then disabled within 48 hours, as were internal email addresses. This move prevented employees from communicating with one another or receiving the latest information.
This lengthy article from Game Developer reflects the anger, bewilderment, and—once again—Microsoft’s ruthlessness in this situation. One source at id Software strongly criticized the American company, accusing it of destroying “inmense amounts of value” with these layoffs.
“They didn’t even wait to see if the product is successful before they got rid of the team. […] There are no benefits to being owned by Microsoft. In fact, they have destroyed immense amounts of value that I don’t even think that they’re aware of.”
“It feels like we put a good product out and it just has zero effect on your longevity in the industry.”
“Good work is not going to save your job at this company. It used to be, back in the day, that you want you would come to Zenimax to retire. If you came here, that they were not going to let you go.”
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Author: 360 Technology Group
