How Long for Can American Taxpayers Justify Bailing Out Microsoft?
Keep Bailout Money Out of Politicians' Hands
There is loads of news this weekend (and since Thursday) about imminent mass layoffs impacting XBox; those layoffs actually will impact all of Microsoft and rumour tellers expect about 10,000+ layoffs all in all (not counting those who took so-called 'buyout' offers or got put on a PIP to cause them to leave with minimal/nonexistent severance).
We'll properly address the reality of Microsoft layoffs nearer to "d-day" (some time in early July). We've seen several reports that say Microsoft considered offloading XBox or partnering with another company to move in a similar trajectory (of Microsoft essentially divesting from XBox). Hours ago British media said "Microsoft’s Xbox games keep ending up as flops" and cited a "new report". To quote the figures Microsoft would rather suppress or spin:
A report has highlighted the extent of Xbox’s failures across its game studios, with titles like Avowed, Keeper, and Hellblade 2 falling short of Microsoft’s expectations.
Despite having a pretty strong Xbox Games Showcase, any goodwill generated by Microsoft has quickly dissolved over the past few days.
After confirming Gears Of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are Xbox console exclusives, there’s been a lot of confused messaging around the company’s strategy. Additionally, according to reports, significant layoffs and studio closures are expected at Xbox at the end of the month.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma recently admitted that the company’s revenue has sharply declined, despite a number of high-profile studio acquisitions over the years. The ongoing memory shortage isn’t helping matters either, which is leading to drastic rethinks around its plans for its next console.
So expect things to spiral out of control. Microsoft is losing money, its debt is soaring (due to too many losing divisions, not just slop). The losses cannot be offset by what is still profitable and Microsoft will increasingly struggle with payroll, just like IBM.
This is why Microsoft really must lay off many people, especially the "Expensive" (read: Experienced) ones. The media has meanwhile recalled de facto Microsoft bailouts that happened under Cheeto, set aside billions of dollars he gave Microsoft without strings attached under the guise of "COVID recovery" (they give billions to corporations, not to homeless people!) and how $22 billion ended up converted to a container-load of unused, obsolete hardware. To quote:
In November 2018, the Army awarded a 10-year, $22 billion contract to Microsoft to begin building and delivering prototypes of the headsets. In 2021, Army officials announced that IVAS testing and fielding would be delayed for another year. By 2022, the Pentagon’s testing office began running early versions of IVAS through training scenarios and found that soldiers hit fewer targets and engaged them more slowly with IVAS 1.0 than with their current equipment. Soldiers wearing the headsets for the demos reported feeling disoriented or suffering eye and neck strains, headaches, and motion sickness.
Another report from 2022, this time in an audit by the Department of Defense’s inspector general, found that the program still had undefined “minimum user acceptance levels to determine whether IVAS would meet user needs.” The IG warned that it could mean wasting nearly $22 billion in taxpayer funds “to field a system that soldiers may not want to use or use as intended.”
2.2 million dollars per gadget! For gadgets never used.
How many more times will this happen? How many times need the American taxpayers give Microsoft money for vapourware that's neither necessary nor delivered? █