For years Microsoft hoovered up more and more of the games industry. It was shocking when they purchased Bethesda - a huge third party publisher and development house. By the time they secured the deal to buy Activision-Blizzard, it was much less so, and it was clear that Microsoft believed they could buy all the properties they needed to make GamePass a success. It didn't take long to see that their strategy wasn't working.

Since the inception of the service, I've used it to play numerous games at release. Unfortunately for Microsoft, they've never even gotten a full $60 from me thanks to their numerous promotions. I can't imagine I was the only one - and even if you were paying full price for the service - Microsoft must've been cannibalizing their own software sales to keep you as a customer.

Shortly after buying Activision-Blizzard, we saw the first contraction at Microsoft - Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Studios, and Roundhouse Games were all shuttered. Today, the next wave is hitting with 1600 employees being laid off across the Xbox division. Four studios have also been offloaded, with DoubleFine and Compulsion being made independent, and Ninja Theory and Undead Labs being sold off to new parent companies.

While it's great that this latest batch of studios isn't being closed down, they're being thrown into new and uncertain conditions that may yet prove unfavorable. As a huge fan of DoubleFine, particularly, I am really hoping for the best for them, but it's clear that these are uncertain times in the games industry.

Also, the 1600 employees Microsoft laid off are only the first round, with another 1600 due to be laid off over the next year. This comes after a rumored buy out of thousands of employees to prevent publicly laying off even more. That's a tremendous amount of talent loss and a huge shake up to established studios under the Xbox brand.

These cuts are certain to do untold damage to Microsoft's remaining studios. These types of cuts already leave teams weaker, but the uncertain future only drives more fear and frustration, which is anathema to creativity. What kind of games come out of these moments? Having worked in tech for years, it's my experience that these situations stymie innovation and make for worse team dynamics. More talent leaves, searching for more stable ground, and the rot begins to take over.

It's also clear that things haven't been particularly well-managed in the Xbox division. For the absolute mountain of studios Microsoft has acquired, they don't have nearly as much to show for it as one might expect. Given the output of companies like Bethesda and Activision as independent entities, the contraction is clear. Who knows how many projects have been cancelled along the way because of this mismanagement?

It's hard to tell what Microsoft does next - do they really want to remain in the games industry? There's a lot of motion right now, but I don't see how any of this improves their standing with gamers.

The Xbox platform is weaker than ever and though they are starting to make some releases exclusive, that feels like a band-aid on a gaping wound. If anything, while it might help make the platform more enticing, it's not a move most gamers are loving. With Halo coming to PS5 this month, it feels weird to have other titles gated away, especially after getting Microsoft's most icon series elsewhere.

Though these moves might be making investors happy (I guess?), it still looks to me like a company in free fall. They don't know how to fix their brand right now or how to compete with Sony (who is also embarrassing themselves lately) or Nintendo. Valve is eating their lunch on PC and is already carving out a new world on Linux.

While they fumble around trying to figure things out, I fear we'll see even more bloodshed. More talent lost, more teams torn apart, more iconic companies closed. My heart goes out to all those who lost their jobs today and all those that are affected by these cuts.