If attendees of the DICE summit want to learn how to create characters that last, they should look no further than Mickey Mouse, says Namco Bandai's Roger Hector.
The secret to character longevity is to steadily increase a character's equity, a concept the industry veteran learned during his tenure at Disney. "All characters have equity," he explained. "Equity is something that builds up with time through the association of that character with high-quality entertainment."
The more high-quality entertainment the character appears in, the more popular they become and the more equity they have. Mickey Mouse, one of the longest-enduring and most recognizable characters in the world, is an excellent example of character equity, said Hector.
The previously rumored mass layoffs at Xbox are expected to happen on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, according to a new rumor.
They will have fired close to 20,000 people all up after this round of lay-offs coming, since the ABK deal announcement in January 2022. Shocking really
January 2023:
Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees, which was a significant workforce reduction.
January 2024:
Approximately 1,900 gaming employees were laid off following the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
May 2025:
Microsoft announced a further 6,000 layoffs as part of an organizational shift.
June 2025:
Additional layoffs, including 650 in the gaming business, focused on corporate and support functions
Replies(2)
"They will have fired close to 20,000 people all up after this round of lay-offs coming, since the ABK deal announcement in January 2022. Shocking really"
It's not that shocking considering these numbers aren't just Xbox numbers as you're deliberately trying to make it seem for some reason.
Interestingly, another no shocking fact is that whenever Microsoft releases its quarterly earnings reports, you're quick to point out that those numbers aren't exclusive to Xbox. Yeah... go figure.
They also fired around 2500 people across Microsoft's gaming divisions and Zenimax shortly after buying it, and before they closed down 4 studios including Arkane and Tango.
I remember Satya boasting about how compassionate he was for splitting the list 50/50 across the two companies.
"They also fired around 2500 people across Microsoft's gaming divisions and Zenimax shortly after buying it"
Bring your sources. I´ll wait.
Let's hope its not as bad as socials are making it, good luck to those that unfortunately lose their jobs.
Could be not as bad could be horrible. But it's Ms so I'm expecting the absolute worst.
Sometimes I feel like they brought in Sarah to take the heat away from Phil.
Phil has always stuck his nose into everything Xbox related when it's something positive or at least neutral but as soon as they went the multiplatform root he's stood back and let Sarah do most of the talking in terms of PR. Now they are doing the same with layoffs.
The person who should be let go is Phil himself.
"Phil has always stuck his nose into everything Xbox related when it's something positive or at least neutral but as soon as they went the multiplatform root he's stood back and let Sarah do most of the talking in terms of PR. Now they are doing the same with layoffs."
You have no idea what you´re talking about.
*IF* Microsoft decides to address the upcoming layoffs, Matt Booty will be the one in the spotlight since he is the president of XGS.
Phil will probably be on some bs drama later doing interviews telling people how "devastated" and "sorry" he is for those affected while wiping away his tears with money.
Sarah is the President of Xbox (hardware) so she will be better off taking care of hers business and let both Matt and Phil face the backlash.
In the future clones walk amongst us, and you need to kill them before they kill you.
EA Sports is teasing the announcement of a new college basketball game. This would mark the publisher’s return to the sport since 2009.
