The Xbox Player Voice portal was launched back in May, giving users the opportunity to easily share their thoughts on Xbox and wishes for the future. This came after new CEO Asha Sharma promised a “return of Xbox” when taking over. Following the announcement of 3,200 layoffs and four studio departures, some players are understandably worried and frustrated, and that’s now having an effect on the Reddit-like platform.
“End studio closures and stop the cycle of layoffs” is the title of the top trending thread on Xbox Player Voice portal at the time of writing. Witt Yao is the user behind the original post, which also includes six points focusing on matters like “transparency for players”, trusting the developers, and layoffs as “a failure of leadership”. It’s largely a sentiment shared by many, and one that’s been exacerbated by Xbox’s ongoing struggles and missteps during this generation of consoles.
Yao’s thread has been upvoted by 3,446 users so far, with 686 Xbox fans also chiming in and expressing their disappointment and/or thoughts on what might be the path forward. It’s quite significant because this is Xbox’s direct line to its players, and one would expect emotions to favour the brand’s actions in such an environment even if there has been frustrations around mishandled game franchises discussed there recently.
“Most of the workers have been laid off and studios closed down simply for doing what they were told to do,” one user expressed before blaming leadership and explaining this is why “Xbox is in such a bad state”. Others have chosen to remind everyone of Microsoft’s huge legacy beyond Xbox before lamenting the current state of affairs and how Xbox has moved away from the people: “A software company should understand that its greatest asset is the people who create the software.”
Some voices are angrier than others, with certain users signalling they might be done with Xbox for good: “Xbox and Microsoft are disgusting. Hope it all burns! Deserves nothing less.” There’s also a noticeable presence of disgruntled TESO players feeling more detached from the game following two rounds of deep-cutting layoffs: “The Elder Scrolls Online is my online home. I have made amazing friends through it, friends I meet up with and travel to see. It is the beating heart of my online community and I do not wish to see it die because of corporate greed and incompetence.”
Ex-id Software developer Johnmichael Quinlan – who was a principal tools programmer at the studio before he was let go after 11 years of service – also joined the chorus: “We did everything right, your executives made the decision to give the games away on Game Pass and then say the gaming division didn’t make money… We succeeded, you did not.” For reference, id Software was hit hard last week, just as it was finally launching Doom: The Dark Ages’ expansion.
The complaints and calls to action go on and on if you keep expanding the comments section, and with the thread gaining traction, there’s a chance someone at Xbox may be forced to report on what a decent chunk of the userbase is saying. This isn’t external criticism; these are calls for a better, more humane Xbox coming from inside the house.
