Xbox layoffs spark player protests on Player Voice forum

Microsoft’s Xbox division launched the Player Voice portal in May as a Reddit‑style platform for gamers to give feedback after new CEO Asha Sharma pledged a “return of Xbox.”

Following the announcement of 3,200 job cuts and the closure of four studios, the portal’s top thread—titled “End studio closures and stop the cycle of layoffs”—has drawn 3,446 up‑votes and 686 comments. Users accuse leadership of “a failure of leadership,” call the layoffs “a failure of leadership,” and some threaten to quit the platform, with remarks such as “Xbox and Microsoft are disgusting. Hope it all burns!”

Former id Software developer John Michael Quinlan, who was let go after 11 years, added: “We did everything right, your executives gave games away on Game Pass and then said the division didn’t make money.” The outpouring of frustration highlights growing tension between Xbox’s corporate restructuring and its player community.