Windows off-center: it seems that one of the biggest media about Windows OS laid off all of its gaming team members, except ONE.

PC Gamer and GamesRadar+ – may have also been impacted, according to the report. 80LV team suggests that the total loss in game and hardware journalism industry exceeded 4000 people in the last couple of years.

#Windows@GameDEV
#XBox@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV

Close to 40% of games released on Xbox in 2025 were spam easy Gamerscore titles, according to True Achievements. These games, made with extremely low effort, serve only one purpose — help players generate gamescore rating, sometimes you only need a minute to get a platinum.

#XBox@GameDEV

Phil Spencer is retiring on Monday, and Xbox President Sarah Bond, long thought to be Spencer's heir apparent, has resigned.

Who will run the XBox then?
The head of Microsoft AI!

#XBox@GameDEV
#WTF@GameDEV
#Microsoft@GameDEV

The new head of XBox got her first ever achievement only mid-January. And a month later she played 28 games and got 10860 Game Scores.

She failed in Cities: Skylines, completed Firewatch (and praised it), got fairly deep into Halo games (many of them), but also didn't like Minecraft.

She also liked What Remains of Edith Finch, Townscaper, Gone Home, A Short Hike, and BALL x PIT. The overall picture doesn't scream "we hired three gamers to boost the score", but rather "we gave a non-gamer task to play or get fired, she's in pain now, trying to consume 70 years of game industry in one month".

#XBox@GameDEV

Among other things, Microsoft will give up on "This is an XBox" marketing from now on. The slogan and overall idea was not popular internally and led to barely (if any) traction in subscription sales (according to Tom Warren from The Verge)

Tom says, that Microsoft decided to fire Sarah Bond, because the campaign was her vision of XBox and she left no space for doubt of this idea back in 2024. Most of the developers and gamers considered this idea offensive and didn't like cloud gaming.

#XBox@GameDEV
#Microsoft@GameDEV

It's possible

#XBox@GameDEV
#Microsoft@GameDEV

People with the mobile Xbox app started to receive test popups because that's how their new provider works. LOL 😆

PS. That was AI marketing tool by the way...

#Xbox@GameDEV
#Microsoft@GameDEV

Laura reveals she was kicked out after an unnamed executive handed her a bathrobe to put on at GDC 2004. She refused, left immediately, and was reorganized out of her role the following week. Even with the support of several colleagues, the HR team gave up on her.

Phil Spencer then stepped in, bringing her onto his team where she contributed to titles like Gears of War.

Phil is generally praised by everyone who speaks of him as a colleague and boss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKUq3zDa0wc
#Xbox@GameDEV

Bloomberg says that PlayStation is turning away from PC for the next few years to improve their own brand. They are concerned by poor sales of a few recent ports, they no longer want deals with Microsoft, and so on.

Multiplayer and Live Service games will be available on PC, but the story-driven paid games will stay exclusives.

The biggest change happened when PlayStation forced people to use PSN accounts on PC. It was their plan to move people from PC to PS5, but it backfired. Even when restrictions were lifted sales never returned.

#PlayStation@GameDEV
#Consoles@GameDEV
#Xbox@GameDEV

The new Xbox in one image
(Not showing the Xbox)

#Xbox@GameDEV
#Hardware@GameDEV

That's cake

#Xbox@GameDEV
#WTF@GameDEV

Quantum Break is 10 years old now. The game was exceptional but suffered from Xbox attitude:

- Released on Xbox One only and was supposed to be a flagship of new media (Game + TV Series inside the game)
- Moved to PC over a year later into broken then Microsoft Store and with messed up graphics (a lot of effects were forced to be 720p at any output resolution)
- Moved to Steam another year later without any real marketing for the port
- Was mostly purchased at huge discounts on sale (I got it for $3)

Also, the series part was very good but at least on PC there were no controls. One accidental tap on space key and you skip the whole episode 🫡

#Xbox@GameDEV
#Remedy@GameDEV

GamePass got cheaper (as promised) but some upcoming titles will be excluded from it. Which is, in my opinion, a better deal for both sides.

It's still more expensive than before Call of Duty, but they have to account call of duty in the price anyway, just a year later.

#Xbox@GameDEV
#Microsoft@GameDEV

Microsoft is planning to fire about 15% of its current workforce, according to rumours. They came from the special forum where workers can make protected reports (RDT).

- The gaming division is affected
- The official news on 05.06.2026
(May or June)

The same user already reported in January that layoffs are in discussion and 2026 numbers will exceed the 2025 ones. He never mentioned the exact date before but keep a grain of salt just in case.

It's also unclear from his statement if 15% of gaming division is affected or 15% of the whole Microsoft and gaming division is affected.

#Microsoft@GameDEV
#Xbox@GameDEV

Same city by the way

#Xbox@GameDEV

How curious: Microsoft is losing money on nearly everything. Numbers in () are negative values.

Xbox lost 7% of revenue, content and services by 5%, and Xbox devices sales plummeted by 33%. The department is in decline for years in a row. The only 3% boost was back in 2023.

#Microsoft@GameDEV
#Xbox@GameDEV
#Business@GameDEV

Asha Sharma just said that Copilot for games is no longer in development.

It was the idea that the AI can assist you in games, nearly play for you, guide you through tough moments, and such. Asha kinda confirmed that not a single gamer asked for it or supported it.

But she hired her ex-colleagues from AI department to take certain leading roles in the new Xbox. So, I'm not sure if she's doing a good thing or what.

#Xbox@GameDEV
#Microsoft@GameDEV
#AI@GameDEV

Just found out that since 2023 Xbox bans "unauthorized gamepads", i.e. grey market, refurbished units, and even simply "not certified devices".

LOL!

#Xbox@GameDEV
#Microsoft@GameDEV