King

Microsoft cuts 4,800 jobs; Xbox to spin off studios

Microsoft announced cuts of around 4,800 roles (about 2.1% of its global workforce) on July 6, 2026, with Xbox and commercial sales among the hardest hit. Xbox will lose 1,600 employees immediately and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma indicated roughly 3,200 cuts are expected through fiscal 2027 as part of a broad restructuring that flattens management layers and narrows strategic focus to core pillars such as Minecraft and Candy Crush. Microsoft highlighted that some work can be automated by AI but said the roles eliminated are "not being replaced by AI." The company recently launched a Frontier Company business unit backed by a $2.5 billion commitment to deliver enterprise AI deployments. As part of the gaming reshuffle, Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to independence, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs will move to new ownership; Helen Chiang was promoted to chief operating officer for Xbox.

Soft-launch mobile games from major publishers

MobileGamer.biz published a roundup (updated biweekly) of mobile games currently in soft launch or testing from major developers and publishers, including EA/PopCap, Hoyoverse (Mihoyo), Playrix, Supercell, Zynga/NaturalMotion and many others. The article lists individual titles, the regions where they are testing (e.g., Philippines, UK, Canada, Australia, India), and brief descriptions of gameplay and status. It also notes the column is sponsored by FastSpring. The piece acts as a catalogue of live tests and early-access releases rather than reporting a single event or corporate announcement. Publication date: 2026-07-06.

Mobile games industry: multiple hiring moves

A jobs digest reports hiring and internal promotions across the mobile games sector. Notable appointments include Maggy Katz and William Hughes at Scopely; Jose Saarniniemi at Metacore to lead Merge Mansion; Michael Scalzitti at Electronic Arts; Yoji Hirano at Roblox for developer relations in Japan; and multiple hires at Apple Arcade, Zynga, Outfit7, Fateless Games, Miniclip, Google, Blizzard, Unity, King, Motorsport Games, Duolingo, Anzu and others. The piece lists many senior and junior roles — product, marketing, monetisation, communications, commercial and C-suite hires — and names new board members at the UK trade body TIGA. The article is a recruitment roundup rather than reporting on product launches or financial events.