More Microsoft-Connected Layoffs, at Least Third Time This Month! (Also Another Death on Campus)

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Aug 29, 2025

Two days ago we said "Morale at Microsoft is Terrible". For months already we said that people there work overtime for no extra pay just because of the fear of losing the job. Now they're dying from overworking [1], even on campus. They probably won't admit this, at the very least for legal reasons. Survivors have family (e.g. marital) problems and health problems.

Meanwhile, many workers are unionising because they don't feel any job security exists at Microsoft [2-5] and there are some more layoffs after a studio had its main project killed off [6-12]. This is connected to Microsoft through XBox.

Well, there's a lot more coverage about this right now, the links below are a subset.

Microsoft as a "gaming" company is where studios, projects, games, and even developers come to die. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Microsoft Software Engineer Dies on Silicon Valley Campus at 35

   A 35-year-old Microsoft Corp. software engineer has died at the company’s Silicon Valley campus.

   Pratik Pandey badged into the office on the evening of Aug. 19 and was found dead in the early hours of the following morning, according to a family member who has spoken with Microsoft and requested anonymity to discuss a personal matter.

   He was known to frequently work late into the night, the family member said. The cause of death is still pending, according to the Santa Clara County medical examiner.

2. Over 450 Diablo developers at Blizzard have unionized

   More than 450 Diablo developers at Blizzard Entertainment have voted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The union will represent employees across multiple disciplines including designers, engineers, artists and support staff. This comes after a slew of layoffs in the gaming division at Microsoft, Blizzard's parent company, as well as across the industry at large.

   The Diablo team isn't the first to unionize at the tech giant. ZeniMax QA workers reached a union contract with Microsoft after two years of negotiations, and Blizzard's Story and Franchise Development team voted to unionize earlier this month. Both are part of the CWA, which also helped the developers behind Overwatch unionize earlier this summer.

3. Over 450 Blizzard developers unionise following Microsoft layoffs

   Over 450 developers at Blizzard working on the Diablo franchise have voted to unionise with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), becoming one of the largest wall-to-wall unions at a Microsoft-owned studio.

   The unit includes game developers, artists, designers, engineers and support staff across the franchise. Workers voted either through union authorization cards or via an online portal, with Microsoft recognising the union.

4. "No amount of hard work is enough to protect us": Over 450 Diablo devs sick of "the constant pressures of layoffs, passion tax, and crunch" under AI-obsessed Microsoft vote to unionize

   Hundreds of Diablo devs have just voted in favor of union representation, joining a fleet of Microsoft game developers seeking the same after recent layoffs axed 9,000 jobs and pushed some to constant paranoia.

   "With every subsequent round of mass layoffs, I've witnessed the dread in my coworkers grow stronger," Blizzard game producer Kelly Yeo says in a Communications Workers of America (CWA) press release, "because it feels like no amount of hard work is enough to protect us." Earlier this month, both 19 Call of Duty quality assurance testers and members of Blizzard's narrative team shared similar worries while also voting strongly in favor of union representation with CWA, weeks after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella assured terrified employees that their parent company "is thriving."

5. "We are ready to begin fighting for real change alongside our Diablo colleagues." Over 450 Microsoft-owned Blizzard Entertainment developers unionize. [Ed: This Microsoft acquisition has clearly not worked for anybody, it only helped temporarily fake Xbox "revenue"]

   More workers under Microsoft's gaming division are unionizing, with the Diablo team at Blizzard Entertainment being the latest to join the growing effort.

   Over 450 developers at Blizzard who work on games like Diablo 4 are unionizing with the Communication Workers of America (CWA), the organization shared on Thursday.

   "With every subsequent round of mass layoffs, I've witnessed the dread in my coworkers grow stronger because it feels like no amount of hard work is enough to protect us," said Kelly Yeo, Team 3 game producer on Diablo and organizing committee member.

6. Following Xbox's Perfect Dark Cancellation, Crystal Dynamics Suffers More 2025 Layoffs

   Back in March, prior to Perfect Dark being cancelled by Microsoft, one of its dev teams Crystal Dynamics suffered several layoffs - and now that the Xbox cancellation has settled in, the studio has laid off even more people here in 2025.

7. Crystal Dynamics Has Second Round Of Layoffs This Year

   Some gamers are opining that these layoffs have something to do with the reported cancellation of the Perfect Dark reboot. Because Microsoft won’t talk about these layoffs, they never officially confirmed that the game was cancelled or that their studio, The Initiative was shut down.

8. Crystal Dynamics Announces Layoffs; New Tomb Raider Game Is Unaffected

   In April 2022, we learned that the studio was working on a new installment in Lara Croft's franchise, powered by Unreal Engine 5 instead of Crystal Dynamics' proprietary Foundation Engine.

9. Crystal Dynamics announces new layoffs and reassures Tomb Raider fans

   It’s bad news that might worry many fans. Indeed, Crystal Dynamics has just announced the dismissal of several employees, probably due to the cancellation of the game Perfect Dark by Microsoft last July.

10. Crystal Dynamics subject to more layoffs following Perfect Dark cancellation

    This week's layoffs follow the cancellation of Perfect Dark earlier this year by Microsoft. While the reboot was being helmed by The Initiative, Crystal Dynamics was supporting the project.

11. [Older] Microsoft cancels Perfect Dark reboot, shuts down studio

    Xbox Game Studios’ new Perfect Dark game — the project that was first revealed in 2020 as the debut title from internal studio The Initiative — has been canceled. Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, confirmed the game’s cancellation and the closure of The Initiative in a note to employees, according to a report from Windows Central.

    That note also confirms the cancellation of Rare’s Everwild. Both games have been canceled in tandem with mass layoffs at Microsoft’s gaming division.

12. Crystal Dynamics Lays Off More Following Perfect Dark Cancelation

    Crystal Dynamics has laid off an unknown number of workers following the cancelation of Perfect Dark by Microsoft.