Blizzard layoffs are imminent amid wider Xbox cuts, report says
Job cuts at Blizzard are imminent, according to a report published on 22 September 2026. Eurogamer
The timing is stark. The report placed the warning a week after BlizzCon 2026, the studio’s annual fan event, and days after the beta test for World of Warcraft: Forever. No number of roles has been given. No date for any announcement has been confirmed.
The word came from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, speaking on the 8-4 podcast. He was asked by former Polygon journalist Mike McWhertor whether Blizzard had announced a large slate of games at BlizzCon because cuts from parent company Xbox were looming. Schreier replied: “To your point: yes the Blizzard layoffs are coming and imminent.”
That claim sits inside a wider round of expected cuts across Xbox. A separate report published on 22 September 2026 said multiple Xbox studios would be consolidated as part of layoffs planned for that week. Pure Xbox Other reports cited on the same date said hundreds of Xbox employees could be affected, with Blizzard and the Halo studios expected to be hit. Those reports remain unconfirmed by Microsoft.
The context is an earlier Xbox cuts plan described in the same Eurogamer report. Microsoft had intended to cut 3,200 jobs from the Xbox division earlier in 2026, with 1,600 roles cut immediately and a further 1,600 earmarked to be cut later. Blizzard emerged unscathed from the first round. Afterwards, the studio was described as Xbox’s “top performing” studio.
Xbox addressed the first round in a statement titled “Resetting XBOX”, published on 6 July 2026. It said approximately 1,600 roles would be eliminated that day. Xbox The statement also said four studios would leave Xbox for new management, as part of a reorganisation of the wider games organisation.
Microsoft has cut jobs across the company several times in recent years. In July 2026, it said it would cut 4,800 jobs, about 2.1% of its global workforce. Reuters
That followed earlier cuts to its games business. In January 2024, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox, about 8% of Microsoft Gaming. Reuters In September 2024, it cut a further 650 jobs in its Xbox unit. Reuters
What makes this stand out for players is the gap between announcements and staffing. A studio can reveal new games one week and lose staff the next. For the people affected, the details that matter are still missing: how many roles, which teams, and when.
