TradingKey – Microsoft’s ( MSFT) new round of workforce optimization has officially taken effect, with 4,800 employees laid off across the company on the same day, representing 2.1% of the total workforce, and the gaming business becoming the core area of contraction. The Xbox division will see a cumulative layoff rate of 20% by fiscal year 2027, to be implemented gradually in batches, making it the hardest-hit area of this adjustment.

In addition to the layoffs, Microsoft has simultaneously initiated a review of its gaming assets, with four studios spinning off from the system: Compulsion Games and Double Fine, acquired in earlier years, will return to independent operations, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs will change hands, and France’s…