It"s been a pretty rough past couple of weeks for both the gaming division of Microsoft and its fan base. In late January, the company announced that 1,900 team members of Microsoft Gaming, or 9 percent of its workforce, would be laid off. This weekend, unconfirmed rumors claimed that Microsoft was planning to release previous Xbox-PC exclusives like Starfield, the upcoming Indiana Jones game, and more on Sony"s PlayStation 5 console.
The double punch of the layoffs and this week"s rumors have created a ton of debate and in some cases disappointment, among Xbox gamers. However, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer seems to have heard these comments and has announced we may get some answers next week.
We"re listening and we hear you. We"ve been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox. Stay tuned.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 5, 2024
In a post on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account, Spencer stated that the division has been "planning a business update event for next week." Spencer stated that the event will let Microsoft Gaming share "more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox."
It"s not clear yet if this "business update event" is meant to be a press event with journalists attending to get an update on the Xbox division with Spencer. It"s also possible the company will have some kind of live stream for fans about this update. However, it might just be a simple series of press releases posted on the Xbox Wire site.
Whatever the form of the update, it"s likely to be something of a turning point in the Microsoft Gaming business in general. After acquiring Activision Blizzard in October, Microsoft"s been pretty quiet about its future plans for that side of its gaming division. We still don"t have any info on when Activision Blizzard titles will hit Xbox Game Pass. Hopefully, this business update will address the future of Activision Blizzard IP at Microsoft.