About this episode

The episode discusses Microsoft's significant layoffs at Xbox and features an interview with Mike Futter about the future of game development.

Microsoft made its Xbox layoffs official this week, and they’re absolutely brutal. The company plans to lay off 3,200 employees, or 20 percent of its workforce, over the next year. 1,600 were immediately let go this week. To help us understand Xbox's strategy (if there’s any), we chatted with Mike Futter, co-host of the Virtual Economy Podcast and Director of Ops and Publishing at Causeway Studios. Once again, we chart Xbox’s sad decline to the inauspicious debut of the Xbox One in 2013. Microsoft’s Xbox layoffs get real and several studios are spun off – 0:59 Mike Futter’s prediction for the future of game dev: AAA and everyone else – 35:34 Behold, iRobot’s first new product post-bankruptcy: a vacuum operated by humans – 42:39 Jess Conditt’s Steam Machine review: Very expensive and underpowered…but at least it’s quiet! – 44:47 Pop culture picks – 46:06 Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-engadget-podcast/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

People in this episode

Guest: Mike Futter

Topics covered

• Xbox layoffs
• game development
• Microsoft strategy
• iRobot products
• Steam Machine review
• pop culture

Keywords

• Xbox layoffs
• Microsoft
• game development
• iRobot
• Steam Machine
• pop culture

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Microsoft, Xbox, Virtual Economy Podcast, Causeway Studios

Products: Xbox One, iRobot, Steam Machine

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