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Microsoft's Flight Sim studio hit by lay-offs
Microsoft's Flight Sim studio hit by lay-offs
GamesIndustry - January 23, 2009
Submitted by welshbloke (60) at 4:01AM PST on January 23, 2009
Microsoft Flight Simulator studio ACES is one of the first outfits to be hit significantly by yesterday's planned job cuts. In addition, a report by Microsoft blogger Mary-Jo Foley suggests that the bulk of the 1400 immediate job cuts announced yesterday are to come from the Entertinament and Devices division – responsible for Xbox 360, Zune and Windows Mobile businesses.
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3afsplat posted on Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) at 1:31PM PST on January 23, 2009. RE: Microsoft's Flight Sim studio hit by lay-offsbids
3Arbiter posted on Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) at 10:13AM PST on January 23, 2009. RE: Microsoft's Flight Sim studio hit by lay-offs@apujanata,
You would think that would be the case--Xbox 360 team doing well, keep them on board, Zune is not doing well, cut numbers there. However, companies often do the opposite, cutting resources from where they are successful to reinvest in where they are doing poorly (see American automakers).
I really don't know why they keep investing in the Zune, other than MSFT thinks they have unlimited resources. The MP3 player market is contracting, iPod already dominates it. The music store model is becoming less interesting to control with DRM going to the wayside. They should just write off this group.[ Guru ] [ Level 21 ] [ Rank: 159 ]bids
1welshbloke posted on Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) at 6:29AM PST on January 23, 2009. RE: Microsoft's Flight Sim studio hit by lay-offsbids
1apujanata posted on Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) at 4:57AM PST on January 23, 2009. RE: Microsoft's Flight Sim studio hit by lay-offs@welshbloke,
I sure hope that E&D layoff are concentrated on the zune staff, not X360 staff. Otherwise, it might have impact to X360 performance in the market.[ Oracle ] [ Level 30 ] [ Rank: 14935 ]bids
14welshbloke posted on Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) at 4:01AM PST on January 23, 2009. Article: Microsoft's Flight Sim studio hit by lay-offsMicrosoft Flight Simulator studio ACES is one of the first outfits to be hit significantly by yesterday's planned job cuts. In addition, a report by Microsoft blogger Mary-Jo Foley suggests that the bulk of the 1400 immediate job cuts announced yesterday are to come from the Entertinament and Devices division – responsible for Xbox 360, Zune and Windows Mobile businesses.[ Oracle ] [ Level 30 ] [ Rank: 60 ]
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Interesting--your article says that a large portion of the cuts have been video game testers. I always thought those people were pretty cheap labor--but then they would be the most replaceable when the economy recovers. It's probably harder to get good programmers.
The company's best area is enterprise software so those people should be safe. Windows 7 is supposed to come out soon, so its crunch time for that division. I guess it makes sense, but I'd think canning the Zune is still the best area they could make cuts. Windows Mobile is also mediocre, but that's an important market.