Third Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in September, This Time Many in Liverpool Affected

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Oct 01, 2025

Hours ago: Former Microsoft executive tells Xbox “Your console is dead” as PS5 becomes Sony’s “most successful generation”:

Microsoft is clearly having problems. Yesterday we published "Two Months After Merging to Hide GitHub Losses Microsoft is Doing It Again (This Time Windows)" and someone comments on those losses by saying: "This can only end well. You have to open up your throat so you don't choke on the sc----g that is Windows. Sure, it's unwanted but you will enjoy it. Certainly, this effort will result in a resurgence of hiring elimination of RIFs."

They are cutting units and reducing staff. It's not hard to see that. The same has just happened (again) in XBox, even if many reports leave out the XBox part:

• Just Cause developer Avalanche closes a studio weeks after Microsoft pulls plug on Xbox game

• Avalanche Closes Liverpool Studio as Microsoft Ends Everwild and Perfect Dark

• 2 months after halting work on its latest project, Just Cause developer Avalanche is closing its Liverpool studio and laying off employees in Malmö and Stockholm

• Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios is the latest game company to announce layoffs

• Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios closing UK studio in workforce restructure, following cancellation of Xbox exclusive Contraband

• Just One Month After Xbox's Contraband Cancelation, Developer Avalanche Announces Layoffs and UK Studio Closure Plans

• Avalanche Studios Closes Liverpool Branch Following Contraband Cancellation, Layoffs to Also Hit Malmö and Stockholm Teams

• Avalanche Studios Group announces closure of Liverpool studio

• Just Cause Developer Avalanche Studios Hit by Layoffs, UK Location to Close

• Avalanche Studios shuts down Liverpool office, cuts staff in Sweden

• Developer Of Cancelled Xbox Exclusive Is Closing One Of Their Studios

• Avalanche Studios reports mass layoffs following Xbox cancellation

• Avalanche Studios Group closes Liverpool studio, reduces staff in Malmö and Stockholm. [Might be slopfarm]

XBox is a complete and utter disaster. Here is how this relates to it:

• Avalanche confirms layoffs and studio closure after halting Contraband development

  Contraband was being developed in collaboration with Xbox Game Studios Publishing but was placed on hold after Microsoft's latest round of mass layoffs.

  [...]

  Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios is making layoffs and shutting down its Liverpool studio.

  The news comes less than two months after the Swedish company announced it would be pausing work on Contraband, an upcoming co-op title that was being developed in collaboration with Xbox Game Studios Publishing.

  [...]

  Avalanche didn't mention Contraband or Microsoft when announcing its restructuring plan. The company simply stated it has been impacted by "challenges to our business and the industry."

So just like that. A third (that we know of) wave of Microsoft layoffs in September. Studios aren't doing to well when Microsoft cancels things, citing "hey hi" or some other excuses.

Be ready for more waves of layoffs ahead of the so-called "results" in late October. █