9PM on a Friday Night: Microsoft Says the Layoffs Are Not Layoffs

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Feb 20, 2026

Feb 20, 2026, 8:58 PM GMT (almost end of business hours in the US as well):

Microsoft says today’s Xbox shake-up doesn’t mean game studio layoffs

So it begins^*...

The above "damage control" from a Microsoft-connected site is quite revealing. So just before people leave for the weekend... Microsoft fired a shot.

Now, the Microsoft boosters will lick the Microsoft boots.

"Xbox has new leaders today, now that Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond are out," it states.

"Are out". Passively?

Haha, no business news here then. It's like they've just announced the CEO and CFO have been "disappeared", sort of like Kyndryl.

We've said for a long time that XBox is doomed this year. █

____

^* Lots about this tonight, a man far from retirement age... "retiring" [1, 2, 3]. "Major changes are coming to Xbox leadership: Phil Spencer has announced his departure as CEO of Microsoft Gaming. According to IGN, his last day in the role is Monday, February 23."

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