King seemingly escapes major layoffs in latest round of Xbox cuts

Xbox has announced the latest stage of its restructure which will see 268 jobs lost across first-party studios, XGS management and central functions.

King seems to have dodged most of the cuts, and has expanded its remit to include Microsoft Casual Games, which makes evergreen titles like Solitaire Collection, Minesweeper and Mahjong for PC and mobile.

Xbox exec Matt Booty confirmed in a blog today that the new layoffs mean the troubled division is now three quarters of the way through the restructure announced in July. As we reported a week later, King escaped most of the Xbox cuts and was effectively ‘promoted’ within the hierarchy, alongside Mojang.

Both studios will now report directly into Xbox boss Asha Sharma, it was confirmed in July. “These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players,” Sharma said in a blog announcing the news. “They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to Xbox.”

The cuts and reorganisation mostly hit Xbox’s first party console and PC studios. The moves mean Activision will oversee Rare, World’s Edge and develop the next Halo game. Bethesda will now absorb Obsidian, and Playground Games and Turn 10 will merge. Xbox also confirmed that Cambridge, UK-based Ninja Theory will likely close, and that Double Fine, Compulsion Games and Undead Labs have each been divested.

As we reported last week, staff at King’s Stockholm and Malmö offices are set to go on strike at 5am this Friday, September 25, after King management rejected a collective bargaining agreement that had been in negotiations for a year.

Last summer, King made around 200 job cuts, around 10% of its staff. Our sources claimed around half of those were in the Stockholm office, with 30 layoffs at King Barcelona and the rest from London, Berlin and its full-time remote workers.

Some sources claimed that some of those staff cut were effectively being  replaced by the AI tools they helped create and train.

We later reported on alleged layoff lawsuits, toxic management and low morale at the Candy Crush maker, though one insider claimed that many King staff were ‘pampered’ and overly-sensitive. In March, King refuted the claim that AI had replaced some jobs.