Entertainment: Behind Xbox's Big Layoffs, a Streaming Strategy That Failed
Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox spent nearly $80 billion in the last decade on deals that would give it popular video game titles like Call of Duty and Skyrim, betting that gamers would flock to its Netflix-like subscription service offering hundreds of options for endless play.
On Monday, the company acknowledged that strategy hasn't worked out. Xbox said it would lay off 3,200 employees, 20% of its staff, and let go of five game studios in an effort to reset.
What started as an attempt to boost Xbox's last-place position among console makers, after Sony Group Corp.'s PlayStation and Nintendo Co.'s Switch, ended in a glut of overspending, leaving Xbox bloated with studios, staff and too many games people didn't want to play.