1,900 Laid Off From Microsoft Gaming - Mike Ybarra and Allen Adham Quitting
Earlier this morning, it was announced that Microsoft is laying off 1,900 staff from its gaming division, a reduction of around 8% of Microsoft Gaming's total workforce.
Following the announcements, Mike Ybarra (also known as Qwik) has announced on X that today is his last day at Blizzard Entertainment.
Ybarra, an industry veteran who previously spent 22 years at Microsoft, initially joined Blizzard in October of 2019 as a general Manager and executive vice-president, eventually rising to the position of president in February 2022.
Another departure resulting from the layoffs is that of Allen Adham, one of the original co-founders of Blizzard Entertainment all the way back in February 1991, when it was still known as Silicon & Synapse. Adham had previously left the company in 2004 and returned in 2016, being made once again part of the company's leadership team in 2018.
Adham was an executive producer.
According to The Verge's article, Ybarra and Adham's departure was not part of the layoffs, but a decision to leave the company following them. It is currently unknown how much the layoffs are affecting Activision Blizzard as a whole.
We wish both Ybarra and Adham, as well as anyone affected by the layoffs solace in these trying times.
