According to several major video game experts and observers, the steep decline in certain types of games could be behind cuts in the industry.

Microsoft Dumps 277 WA State Workers from Gaming Projects

Another WARN Alert from Employment Security indicates 277 jobs, mostly in Redmond, WA are going away within weeks at Microsoft.

Company sources and Geekwire report the jobs are from Art, Game Production, Technical Art, and Audio Design as well as software engineering.

  Is Downtown in Certain Games Behind This?

According to video game experts, major leading titles, or AAA games, are seeing a significant drop in sales, as well as players. AAA games are high-budget, high-profile games released by mid to major digital companies, such as Microsoft.

Halo is one of those.  Geekwire reports many of the layoffs are an attempt by Microsoft to streamline the company and “return the games division to growth and profitability.”

   Microsoft Spins off Halo to Subsidiary

These cuts also affect the X-Box division, and Microsoft says the next version of Halo will be developed by their subsidiary, Activision.

If you noticed a major decline in the number of video game ads on TV, that’s not by accident.  Experts say while AAA and other major games are in decline,  others are growing.  The biggest growth is now in digital gaming platforms and subscription game plans.  We used to see, a few years ago, a lot more ads for Halo, Call of Duty, and others. Now, not so much.

 These Are Not Microsoft’s only Job Cuts

They cut 605 workers in WA in July of this year, part of a global reduction of 4,800, and 15,000 global cuts were made in two rounds in 2025.