Summary
- The Warzone Mobile team was recently hit with layoffs.
- Phil Spencer highlights the need for adapting to gaming market shifts.
- It is unclear how many people were laid off on the Warzone Mobile team.
The Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile team is one of the groups unfortunately affected by the September 12 round of layoffs at Microsoft, which saw approximately 650 people let go from the company's gaming divisions. Activision Blizzard was directly impacted by the layoffs, as the Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile and Warcraft Rumble teams are reportedly being scaled down.
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile launched this past March, offering many of the signature Warzone features found in the game's console and PC versions. These features include battle royale matches with up to 120 players, a variety of game modes supported on Warzone for PC and consoles, and cross-progression. Activision hoped that the Warzone Mobile experience would make a huge splash in the mobile market, following the worldwide success of TiMi Studio Group's Call of Duty Mobile. However, it became apparent after Warzone Mobile's launch that many gamers still preferred the main Warzone game, especially while fans wait for the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and the coinciding Warzone update.
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As reported by Stephen Totilo at Game File, the Warzone Mobile and Warcraft Rumble teams were hit with layoffs at Activision Blizzard. Warzone Mobile will continue unabated, but the development team is being scaled down for future operations. Despite having over 50 million pre-registrations leading into launch, Warzone Mobile does not appear to be performing as Activision hoped now, with Microsoft head of gaming Phil Spencer citing that they must "adapt to shifting priorities and manage the lifecycle and performance of games." Moreover, Spencer noted that the layoffs were not tied to the Activision Blizzard acquisition. It's unclear exactly how many employees on the Warzone Mobile team were laid off, however.
Warzone Mobile Team Affected by the Microsoft Layoffs on September 12
- Warzone Mobile did not perform as Activision hoped in the months following its March 2024 launch.
- Phil Spencer notes that Activision must adapt to shifting priorities in the gaming market.
Microsoft's recent round of layoffs affected 650 employees in "mostly corporate and supporting functions," with the affected Warzone Mobile and Warcraft Rumble employees being exceptions. Roughly 2,550 employees were impacted by the company's gaming division layoffs in 2024, which began with 1,900 Microsoft employees being let go in January. The layoffs from January seemed to have been a result of Microsoft's string of acquisitions in recent years, leading to cuts to redundant positions across Microsoft's studios.
Black Ops 6 is set to be a historic and immensely profitable launch for Microsoft on October 26. The Black Ops 6 beta recently broke records for overall player engagement and time played, implying that pre-order numbers could be very high. Alongside Black Ops 6, Warzone and Warzone Mobile will also receive support and content over the course of various seasons.
- Released
- March 21, 2024
- ESRB
- m
- Developer(s)
- Activision Mobile
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Engine
- IW 9.0
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Call of Duty
- Number of Players
- 1-120
WHERE TO PLAY
Call of Duty®: Warzone™ Mobile is here! Drop into real Call of Duty action with exhilarating FPS Battle Royale and Multiplayer gameplay, featuring Call of Duty: Warzone style combat and weapons with real graphics. Squad up for PvP battles, and fight to win in this Battle Royale mobile game!
Explore iconic FPS Battle Royale maps, Verdansk and Rebirth Island. Enter Shipment, Shoot House, and Scrapyard, high-octane Multiplayer maps in Call of Duty, built for fun, fast-paced firefights. Powered by Call of Duty technology, with Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile you can level up shared weapons, earn shared XP, and bring it all to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare® III and Call of Duty: Warzone for the ultimate connected Call of Duty experience.
