Xbox Protesters Call On CEOs To Be Laid Off, Not Workers

Xbox workers organised outside multiple studios this weekend, protesting recent layoffs. The protesters formed a picket outside the offices, calling attention to how workers have been made to suffer for the decisions of management.

Many of these protesters aimed at CEO Asha Sharma, who rolled out these layoffs as part of her big “reset” at Xbox. Some of the signs at the pickets go after the idea of this reset directly, whereas others attack her aims for Xbox, suggesting that they’re unrealistic.

Xbox Workers Fight Back Against Management

• Photo credit: CWA
• Photo credit: CWA
• Photo credit: CWA
• Photo credit: CWA
• Photo credit: Emilio Gonzalez
• Photo credit: David Pham

• Photo credit: CWA
• Photo credit: CWA
• Photo credit: CWA
• Photo credit: CWA
• Photo credit: Emilio Gonzalez
• Photo credit: David Pham

“One billion? Are they stupid?” reads one of the signs at the protest. This refers to Sharma’s aim for Xbox to entertain one billion people a day - a target that she shared while laying people off, and one that has repeatedly been mocked in the gaming community.

“Microsoft is killing your games,” says another, rallying gamers to the cause, too. This is likely a reference to how Xbox has cancelled multiple projects, and how it’s gutted multiple teams behind its biggest hits, like the recent Doom games.

These protests were organised by the Communications Workers of America union (CWA), which represents many game workers. Demonstrations were held in six different locations:

• ZeniMax in Austin, Texas, US
• ZeniMax in Rockville, Maryland, US
• id Software in Dallas, Texas, US
• Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, US
• Obsidian in Irvine, California, US
• Victoria Square, Montreal, Canada

These studios were among the worst affected. ZeniMax Online Studios has now had its second leadership shakeup in a year, and updates for The Elder Scrolls Online are having to be reassessed. Meanwhile, id Software has lost up to 75% of its workforce, and Obsidian has lost around 25%.

This was all in aid of getting teams working on major IPs - with Obsidian now making a Fallout game, for example - but they've lost some major talent in the process, which might make this a tall order for these studios. To make matters worse, a further 1,600 layoffs are expected later this year.

Frustratingly, many of the studios that were caught up in these layoffs, including those that were spun off, had been doing what Xbox asked of them. They released games regularly and filled out Game Pass’ offerings. When that strategy didn’t work, the only leadership shakeup we saw was Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond suddenly stepping down from their positions at Xbox, replaced by Sharma. Other than that, it’s the devs who have paid the price.

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