About 160 people will lose their jobs at Microsoft’s ZeniMax Media in Rockville, according to a WARN Act Notice. The ZeniMax cuts were announced shortly after Microsoft announced mass layoffs.
The notice, issued July 3 and effective Sept. 1, shows 164 ZeniMax Media employees and 30 contractors will be affected. ZeniMax did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last Wednesday, Microsoft said it was laying off about 9,000 employees, or about 4% of its current workforce.
This is the third round of layoffs at Microsoft this year. Three hundred jobs were cut in June. In May, they laid off nearly 2,000 workers, most of whom were in product management and software engineering roles.
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Many of those cut this time around belonged to the sales division and Xbox video games, among other areas of the business. This follows Microsoft’s yearlong efforts to expand its gaming console business.
In 2023, Microsoft acquired California-based Activision Blizzard, which is responsible for Call of Duty and Candy Crush, for $75.4 billion. In 2021, Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, for $7.5 billion.
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ZeniMax Media is an award-winning video game publisher behind titles such as Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake. Its development studios are Alpha Dog, Arkane, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, MachineGames, Roundhouse Studios, Tango Gameworks, and ZeniMax Online Studios, according to a press release from Microsoft.
Bethesda Game Studios is behind popular game series The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. It has offices in Rockville, Montreal and Texas.
Last year, 241 artists, designers, engineers and programmers at Austin, Dallas and Rockville formed a union, which Microsoft recognized.
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