Microsoft may lay off Xbox staff this month, in November, and in January.
Microsoft may lay off Xbox staff this month, in November, and in January.
by Jay Peters
Oct 20, 2026, 7:06 PM UTC
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge
Jay Peters
is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is planning new rounds of layoffs for sometime this month, November, and January, according to Fortune. In July, as part of an organizational “reset,” Sharma announced planned layoffs affecting 3,200 staffers over the course of Microsoft’s 2027 fiscal year, including 1,600 cuts at that time, and in September, Microsoft laid off around 260 employees. Sharma’s changes have also included letting Double Fine and Compulsion Games become independent again, though Senua developer Ninja Theory may close.
The report also touches on speculation that Xbox may be spun off or sold, and Judson Althoff, the CEO of Microsoft’s commercial business, seemed to downplay that idea to Fortune. “Asha is one of the best leaders we have at the whole company,” Althoff said to Fortune. “We would not have put her on a business we intend to sell. There’s going to be a ton of speculation about all this. Time will tell.”
Sharma recently told The New York Times that “Xbox is not for sale.”
Fortune’s report also said that Microsoft is planning to launch a “next-generation handheld device” in 2027 and its Project Helix console in 2028.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
- Jay Peters
Source: The Verge · Jay Peters
At a glance
- Topic
- Technology
- Country
- 🇺🇸 US
- Publisher language
- EN
- Added to Allnira