Community driven aggregate sites are increasingly becoming a central hub for various publications from different industries, perhaps most so with gaming, causing more and more outlets to rely on them for traffic. The Daily Reaction crew of Seb and Dan discuss the benefits and pitfalls of aggregates, and what they mean for the industry as a whole.
Do not miss the Final Fantasy IX Music Special Live Stream on July 7th! Celebrate FFIX's 25th anniversary with unforgettable music.
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.
The Outerhaven writes: Split/Second was the explosive arcade racing game that outshone Ridge Racer and Burnout. That is, until Disney shut it all down before a sequel could happen.
As a kid i had some heart attacks playing this game. The soundtrack right on point with those close calls. I love this game.
Agreed. I still love it and play it often. Still sucks that Disney was like, nah... this game didn't do well, when it did well against other racers and reviewed well.
Split/Second was one of the game I enjoyed playing. In fact it's still the most popular video on my YouTube channel. It's a gameplay of Split/Second posted 15 years ago. This past month 25 people viewed it. Split/Second is a favourite amongst racing gamers worldwide.
This game was super awesome and hella fun playing split-screen with the homie. Trashing your friend’s car during split-screen competition using one of those QuickTime events was so funny haha
I'm not touching this with a 50ft bubble pole
This article made me go on Reddit... That was 20 mins and 10 dog/cat pics ago.
I think having a central location for a certain type of news is a good thing.
I first came to N4G because it was the only place where I could get all the news without having to hunt it down from various sites.
The quality content is here on this site(and I assume reddit), but you still have to hunt for it, and it's rarely commented on. Some of these issues have to do with the model that game journalism takes, in that sensationalism tends to be more profitable than journalism.
Otherwise, the gaming community at large does what PSLS says, and that's make sensationalism popular, and often deflects the actual topics in the name of fan boy pandering. Can't really blame N4G or reddit for this trend because I think the game journalism people have done it to themselves by constantly catering to those types of people who tend to far outnumber the rational folk in comments. Obviously the good game journalists and stories are still out there though, I speak only in generalities.
There is no reason why quality and relevant news stories can't get the top spot on the front page. But it seems people aren't really interested in that, so they get lost in the fray.
I've been a member of this site since 07 and have to say that there are multiple things N4G can improve on.
Reworking the way stories are submitted and changing the comments section to show newest comments first (similar to Youtube and Disqus) are a few of my wishes.