Microsoft layoffs hit hundreds of staff, including Xbox division

Hundreds of Microsoft staff have reportedly been laid off across the company, including team members working in the company's Xbox division.

Business Insider reported that hundreds - but less than 1000 - staff have been affected.

"Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly," a Microsoft spokesperson told Eurogamer today. "We will continue to invest in our business and hire in key growth areas in the year ahead."

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Microsoft currently employs around 180,000 people around the world and previously announced layoffs in July, when it said it would shed "less than one percent" of its workforce as it re-evaluated "business priorities".

At the time, Microsoft said it would still "grow headcount overall" over the rest of the year.

While the job losses are reported to affect numerous teams across the company, at least one team appears to have been shut down completely.

Studio Alpha, which was developing military and commercial wargame simulations using Microsoft's cloud-based Azure technology, is no more, per tweets from affected staff.

Microsoft is among a number of technology-based companies to have slowed hiring or laid off staff this year due to concerns over current economic conditions. In a heated meeting last month on company cost-cutting, Google boss Sundar Pichai told employees not to "equate fun with money", with staff also told to expect less spending on hiring, travel and the company's upcoming holiday parties.