Blizzard president tells devs to “expect to hear more” about brutal Xbox layoffs as WoW, Diablo and Overwatch workers remain in the dark

Published:

7 July 2026

Last Updated: 7 July 2026

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As Microsoft’s rampant layoffs decimate The Elder Scrolls Online developer Zenimax Online Studios, other studios are still waiting to find out their future. Blizzard, the studio behind World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch, are currently one company still waiting to discover their fate.

As part of Xbox’s massive cost cutting strategy, Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs. This includes the roughly 600-700 workers that have been divested into sold and independent hands. Right now, Xbox is cutting 1,600 jobs, with an additional 1,600 workers set to be axed in the second half of 2026.

In an email to staff following Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s announcement, Blizzard president Johanna Faries told workers to await news on upcoming layoffs. Alongside every other studio last year, Blizzard was hit by Xbox’s 2025 layoffs with cuts to the Diablo, WoW, and Overwatch teams.

“While you can expect to hear more details regarding the day’s events and what they mean for Blizzard in further communications, for now I simply want to acknowledge that today is a difficult day that impacts many people in a range of ways,” they wrote in a memo acquired by Windows Central.

“Please take care of yourself and others in this moment as best as possible,” Fairies said. “In light of today’s news I want to thank everyone across Blizzard for moving with focus and creativity behind our strategic priorities, supporting our myriad communities and each other throughout.”

For now, it appears that Blizzard is largely untouched with many of Xbox’s layoffs focusing on Obsidian Entertainment, Id Software, Zenimax Online Studios, and Bethesda Game Studios. However, while Xbox’s internal teams and Zenimax are hit in this half of the layoffs, Blizzard and Activision may be the main target of the second wave of layoffs.

Right now, though, Blizzard is a largely profitable part of Xbox’s/Microsoft’s overall portfolio. Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch are all huge properties with near-rabid fanbases. Diablo itself has sold spectacularly well with millions of players across Diablo 2, Diablo 4, and Diablo Immortal respectively. Additionally, Blizzard wants more Diablo games to release faster in the future.

World of Warcraft, as an MMO, is still a market leader in the genre, so much so that Blizzard is looking to expand the game well outside of its genre conventions. According to World of Warcraft executive producer and vice president Holly Longdale, the Warcraft IP is currently “underutilised” and needs “evolving” to become more “approachable”. While Blizzard may not yet be affected by layoffs, it seems clear that major changes are coming for the company.

About The Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with over a decade in the field. Starting with beloved Xbox website ICXM/XboxMAD, Lewis became the Gaming Editor at MSPoweruser before becoming the Editor in Chief of StealthOptional and Gfinityesports. Lewis later jumped to By Gamers For Gamers where he jumped to become EIC of VideoGamer and the host of the New VideoGamer Podcast prior to the website’s acquisition.

Over the years, Lewis has also seen long-form investigative pieces published in outlets such as Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, Retro Gamer, Nintendo Life, and EDGE. Now, as the Editor in Chief of FRVR Blog, Lewis strives to bring the same level of quality journalism with interview-led content to the site in both written and audio form with the FRVR Podcast.

With a First Degree BA Hons in Games Journalism and Public Relations, Lewis has been a stable part of the British games press for over a decade, and has frequently displayed his love of Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and other games pretty much everywhere he’s worked. And FRVR is no different.

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