Microsoft is laying off about 300 Washington-based employees, among about 450 companywide, as part of ongoing efforts to reset its gaming division. The Redmond-based tech giant told employees Tuesday morning that it was cutting roles that would mostly fall under the Xbox banner. Across the company, 268 gaming employees were let go. The move comes two months after the company laid off 4,800 ...

Microsoft’ s Xbox division is reportedly planning layoffs as new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma plans a "reset" for the beleaguered gaming business.

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Microsoft is laying off about 300 Washington-based employees, among about 450 companywide, as part of ongoing efforts to reset its gaming division.

The Redmond-based tech giant told employees Tuesday morning that it was cutting roles that would mostly fall under the Xbox banner. Across the company, 268 gaming employees were let go.

The move comes two months after the company laid off 4,800 gaming and sales team employees companywide, including 605 in Washington.

Microsoft has been trying to keep a ceiling on its head count for more than a year as it grapples with the rising costs of an ongoing artificial intelligence-related development and a workforce that swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the company laid off 15,000 employees, 3,202 of whom were based in Washington, according to state data.

Microsoft's global workforce shrunk from 228,000 to 223,000 employees last year, the first overall drop in a decade. The company chalked that decline up to layoffs and the voluntary retirement program it offered to about 8,750 employees in June, with about 30% of eligible employees taking the offer.

Within Microsoft's gaming division, the company is in the middle of a hard reset. In February, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma took over from 38-year Microsoft veteran Phil Spencer, who retired. After 100 days on the job, Sharma sent a memo to gaming employees that said after working to revive Xbox, Sharma would devote the ensuing 100 days to a major overhaul of the beleaguered gaming division.

The layoffs in July and Tuesday are part of Sharma's plan to turnaround Microsoft's gaming division, known since April as simply Xbox.