Overview
- Tuesday at Bethesda’s Rockville office union members installed a giant inflatable rat and planted roughly 800 red flags to represent laid-off Xbox workers, an action timed to a reported visit by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.
- Xbox announced roughly 3,200 job cuts last month as part of a self-described “great reset,” with about 1,600 workers already laid off and additional reductions expected later this year.
- The Communications Workers of America and OneBGS-CWA have moved from internal protest to public actions and have filed unfair labor practice complaints that remain pending with federal labor authorities.
- Several studios have been affected in different ways: Double Fine and Compulsion were spun off and faced layoffs, while Ninja Theory, Undead Labs and Arkane Lyon are reported to be pursuing sales or other strategic options.
- Organizers plan coordinated Save Our Devs rallies across the U.S. and Canada on August 18 to press for stronger severance and layoff protections, a response that could shape contract talks and the future of remaining projects and teams.