Xbox Chief Phil Spencer Talks About ‘Painful’ Layoffs; Microsoft Downsizing Also Included Teams at AltspaceVR, Mixed Reality, Hololens and More

Microsoft recently underwent some major downsizing, with a layoff that saw the departure of 10,000 employees. Among the many techies that lost their jobs, several of them came from the company’s gaming divisions at Xbox.

Once the dust settled on the matter, Xbox chief Phil Spencer sent a company-wide email on the massive layoffs. As spotted by Kotaku, the email details Spencer’s response to the downsizing. “This is a challenging moment in our business, and this week’s actions were painful choices,” said Spencer. “The Gaming Leadership Team had to make decisions that we felt set us up for the long-term success of our products and business, but the individual results of those decisions are real.”

The job cuts have seen exits from employees at major Xbox gaming studios such as ZeniMax Media and Halo: Infinite developers, 343 Industries.

Microsoft seemingly ending its love affair with AR/MR following recent layoffs

Along with the gaming divisions, Microsoft has also ended several teams when it comes to AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality) and MR (Mixed Reality).

Following the acquisition of AltSpaceVR in 2017, Microsoft has ended the project, with all employees laid off. AltSpaceVR has since announced that the platform will be sunsetting on March 10, 2023.

We have some sad news, Altspacers. #AltspaceVR is shutting down on March 10th.

Though we hate saying goodbye, we also feel such pride and gratitude for all the magic that happened here. ✨

Thanks for joining us on this epic adventure. #socialvr https://t.co/peCwpaaBl3

— AltspaceVR (@AltspaceVR) January 20, 2023

When it comes to Mixed Reality, Microsoft has also killed off the entire team behind Mixed Reality Tool Kit. As pointed out by Windows Central, the project was influential for cross-platform Mixed Reality development, with a focus on Meta VR headsets and even Microsoft’s HoloLens.

Joining my teammates in sharing some sad news. Yesterday, the entire #MRTK team was eliminated from Microsoft. I can’t express how grateful we are for our open source community and all of the amazing people we’ve collaborated with over the years. 1/x

— Finn Sinclair 🇺🇲 (@FNS_Developer) January 20, 2023

Speaking of HoloLens, it seems like Microsoft’s VR adventures might soon come to an end as well, with the company failing to gain financial support from the US military budget due to problems with the platform. Furthermore, many members including lead developer Alex Kipman has also departed in recent months.