Microsoft Offers 60,000 Employees a Voluntary Exit. Is Xbox Included?

Microsoft wants to cut staff, this time on a voluntary basis. Around 60,000 employees in the US, Canada, India and the UK can leave the company with a severance package. Whether Xbox is part of this hasn't been officially confirmed yet.

In this article

What Microsoft is offering
Who gets the offer
Is Xbox affected too?
Why Microsoft is doing this
Video: Starfield from Bethesda

Forza Horizon 5: Sports car in a hall — Forza Horizon 5 from Playground Games is one of Xbox's flagship titles (Image: Xbox Game Studios).

Forza Horizon 5: Off-road vehicle on the beach — Forza Horizon 5 from Playground Games is one of Xbox's flagship titles (Image: Xbox Game Studios).

What Microsoft is offering

On October 26, 2026, Microsoft introduced a so-called Voluntary Exit Offer in an official blog post. It was written by Chief People Officer Amy Coleman. Those who accept the offer receive a package equivalent to a standard severance:

a payment based on length of service
continued stock vesting for a fixed period
health insurance for a set time
support in finding a new job

Employees have until early December to decide. Those who leave will depart Microsoft on December 31, 2026. According to Microsoft, there's no fixed target number.

Starfield: Astronaut looking at a mountain landscape with a ringed planet — The Xbox studios are also part of Microsoft; here, a scene from Starfield (Image: Bethesda/Microsoft).

Who gets the offer

The offer applies to employees up to and including career level 70 in participating teams in the US, Canada, India and the UK. According to Microsoft, around 60,000 people are eligible, roughly 27 percent of its approximately 223,000 employees worldwide. Important: this doesn't mean 60,000 jobs will be cut. That's how many can accept the offer; how many actually do remains to be seen.

Back in the spring, Microsoft had offered a voluntary retirement program that, according to the company, was taken up by more than 30 percent of those eligible. Microsoft isn't ruling out traditional layoffs this time either.

Starfield: Spaceship mid-jump — How hard the Xbox teams will be hit is still officially unclear (Image: Bethesda/Microsoft).

Is Xbox affected too?

For players, the most important question is of course whether the Xbox division is included. Officially, Microsoft isn't naming individual divisions. According to a media report, however, parts of Xbox are said to be among the participating teams. That hasn't been confirmed so far, so we're treating it as a rumor.

Besides Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft also owns Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. Read more about the company on our pages for Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios. You'll find more news at PlayInsider.

Why Microsoft is doing this

Microsoft is currently pouring huge sums into artificial intelligence and data centers. At the same time, the company wants to cut costs elsewhere. Voluntary exits are a way to reduce headcount without announcing big waves of layoffs right away.