Xbox Layoffs: id Dev Says Only Clear Goal Is 'Higher Profits, Now'

An anonymous id Software employee tells Aftermath that Xbox's communication is 'bullshit corporate speak' and the only concrete message is demand for higher profits, as 3,200 jobs are cut.

Ever feel like your boss is speaking a different language? That's apparently how it feels inside Xbox right now. One id Software employee who survived the studio's recent layoffs says the only clear message from management is that they want higher profits—and they want them now.

Speaking anonymously to Aftermath, the dev described the atmosphere as "still very chaotic" as Xbox pushes through the "reset" plan CEO Asha Sharma called essential for the health of the business. That plan has already cost 3,200 jobs, and after the latest cuts, Xbox creative lead Matt Booty estimates the company is about 75% of the way through it. For the developers still standing, it's meant walking on eggshells until the other shoe drops.

"While there has been an attempt to communicate to the studios, it is still entirely in bullshit corporate speak," the id employee said. "I still don't believe they have a clear vision for the future. The only concrete thing they have communicated is they want higher profits, and they want it now."

That tracks with what we've heard before. Microsoft's notoriously high profit expectations reportedly left Xbox with an ultimatum. Back in June, Sharma said "our business today is not healthy" and pointed to margins that were 3 to 10 times lower than "comparable platform and publishing businesses." It sounds like Redmond is still chasing moonshot margins.

The id dev didn't hold back: "Aggressive goals are being set that would have been unrealistic even before the layoffs. ... To say the workers within Xbox have a dim view of the future is putting it mildly. We keep thinking morale can't sink lower but the obvious incompetence of Xbox management somehow keeps driving it down worse."

Here's the uncomfortable irony: laying off developers directly undermines the goal of releasing more and better games—something Microsoft has struggled with for years. It's not just lost talent and manpower; even the sterling Elder Scrolls team is bleeding invaluable seniority. And studios forced to absorb other teams are now saddled with extra oversight. When creatives are afraid for their jobs under notoriously closure-happy leadership, making great games becomes exponentially harder. Fear, doubt, confusion, and uncertainty are demonstrably terrible for morale, motivation, and mental health.

As late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata put it back in 2013: "If we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results, employee morale will decrease, and I sincerely doubt employees who fear that they may be laid off will be able to develop software titles that could impress people around the world." Japanese companies like Nintendo, Capcom, and Konami are often cited as healthier because they have smaller teams, don't have frequent layoffs, and don't pay executives $30 million.

So what do you think—can Xbox turn this around, or is the reset just a race to the bottom? Will you be picking up their next big game, or are you waiting to see how this all shakes out?