Microsoft announced last month that it would be cutting 1,900 jobs across its entire gaming division, with studios across Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and Bethesda set to be impacted, and the full ramifications of that fresh round of mass layoffs are continuing to come to light.
As reported by SF Chronicle, state filings in California have revealed that Activision Blizzard is laying off 86 employees at a studio headquartered in Novato at 4 Hamilton Landing- which is the address of Toys for Bob’s office. Toys for Bob is, of course, the creator of the Skylanders franchise, and has also developed Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon titles, including, in recent years, the likes of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, Crash Team Rumble, and Spyro Reignited Trilogy.
In addition to losing a significant portion of its workforce, Toys for Bob is also shutting down its office. However, as reported on Twitter by Windows Central’s Jez Corden and Seasoned Gaming’s editor-in-chief Ainsley Bowden, the developer isn’t shutting down, with the closure of its physical office suggesting that it will be going fully remote- at least on a temporary basis, until it relocates to a smaller (and presumably cheaper) office.
Call of Duty studio Sledgehammer Games has also reduced its workforce significantly as part of Microsoft’s layoffs, having let go over 70 of its employees. Previously, it was reported that, due to the layoffs, Blizzard Entertainment’s unannounced survival game had also been cancelled after over six years of development.