Microsoft is offering a Voluntary Exit Offer to staff across several of its businesses, and Xbox is reported to be one of them. The company confirmed the program on Monday, October 26, and a spokesperson told Business Insider that around 60,000 employees, more than a quarter of the workforce, will be eligible. Reuters and Bloomberg both report that the gaming division is among the participating teams. Microsoft itself has not published a list of which teams are taking part.
Microsoft published Amy Coleman's Voluntary Exit Offer memo on its official blog on October 26. Image: Microsoft
Table of Contents
Is Xbox part of the Microsoft voluntary exit offer?
Two outlets report that it is, and both rely on unnamed sources. Reuters, in a report carried by NBC News, said staff “including those working in AI experiences, Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox and Windows + Devices” would be eligible, citing “a source familiar with the matter.” The same source said marketing, commercial business and security are excluded.
TechCrunch cites Bloomberg as reporting that “divisions including Xbox, Windows, Copilot, and Finance are participating in the buyout offer,” and that data center, sales and marketing staff are excluded.
We found no internal memo from Xbox leadership about the offer, and Microsoft has not said how many Xbox employees qualify or how many it expects to leave. There is no team-by-team breakdown yet.
What Microsoft’s memo actually says
Chief People Officer Amy Coleman announced the program to employees, and Microsoft republished her note on its official blog. She describes it as “a time-limited, voluntary program” for “eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States at level 70 and below.”
The memo stresses that the offer is not company-wide: “Some organizations are providing the Voluntary Exit Offer, and some are not. Participation varies based on each business’s priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs.” Coleman also wrote that the offer “gives participating organizations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs,” and that it builds on the Voluntary Retirement Program Microsoft ran earlier this year.
- Announced: October 26, 2026, by Chief People Officer Amy Coleman
- Who: eligible staff at level 70 and below in participating teams
- Where: United States, Canada, India and the United Kingdom
- How many: about 60,000 eligible, per a spokesperson quoted by Business Insider
- Terms: similar to Microsoft’s standard severance (Business Insider, TechCrunch)
- Deadline: decide by early December, leave at the end of the year (Business Insider)
Business Insider also reports that a Microsoft spokesperson said there are no plans for another buyout at this time. Eligibility is not the same as departures. Earlier this year, more than 30% of the roughly 8,750 workers offered retirement buyouts accepted them, according to TechCrunch.
Xbox Wire's header art for Asha Sharma's reset memos, which have cut thousands of roles since July. Image: Microsoft
Why it matters for Xbox
The offer comes in the middle of what Xbox CEO Asha Sharma called “the most significant restructure in XBOX history.” Her July 6 memo, published on Xbox Wire, set out about 3,200 job cuts across fiscal year 2027, with roughly 1,600 that day, and four studios leaving Xbox. Compulsion Games and Double Fine went independent.
A September 22 update cut another 268 roles across Halo Studios, other first-party studios and central functions. It said Undead Labs had “successfully transitioned” out of Xbox and will release State of Decay 3 day one on Game Pass with a new publisher. Two deals for Ninja Theory fell through, so Xbox began consultation on a proposed closure. Sharma said the actions since July brought Xbox “roughly three-quarters of the way through” the planned restructuring.
In France, Arkane Lyon is still searching for a buyer or partner while consultation over its future continues. On top of that, the division lost its first chief operating officer, Helen Chiang, after three months. A voluntary program gives Xbox another way to cut headcount without announcing a new round of layoffs, but nobody has yet said how Xbox will use it.
What’s next
Microsoft reports its first-quarter results after markets close on Wednesday, October 28, which may bring more detail on costs and headcount. The real numbers, meaning how many Xbox staff were eligible and how many accept, will only be clear after the December decision window closes. Meanwhile Xbox’s hardware plans continue; see what Microsoft has confirmed about Project Helix, the next Xbox. Other studios are cutting too: PlayStation’s Sucker Punch reportedly laid off 26 staff this week.
Sources: Microsoft (Amy Coleman memo), Business Insider, Reuters via NBC News, TechCrunch (citing Bloomberg), Xbox Wire, July 6, Xbox Wire, September 22.
Live: Follow today’s gaming news as it happens
Featured image: Microsoft
