Ammon News - Microsoft confirmed that it’s laying off as many as 9,100 employees, or about 4 percent of its workforce, in yet another round of cuts this year, reports The Seattle Times. Employees in Microsoft’s Xbox division, known as Microsoft Gaming, are being hit hard by these layoffs, although exact numbers and divisions are not yet known.

Xbox leader Phil Spencer said in a message to the team, “To position Gaming for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness.”

Bloomberg reports that the now Microsoft-owned King division that makes Candy Crush is cutting about 10 percent of employees, or 200 people, while other units, like ZeniMax, have also confirmed they are cutting jobs. Microsoft is also laying off more than 70 people at its Forza Motorsport studio, Turn 10, as well as cancelling its Perfect Dark and Everwild games. The studio behind Perfect Dark, The Initiative, is also closing down as part of these layoffs.

These major layoffs come less than two months after Microsoft announced it was cutting more than 6,000 employees, followed by an additional 305 reductions in early June. Microsoft employees have faced a series of layoffs over the past year, including a round of performance-based cuts that have seriously hit morale, according to multiple Microsoft employees I’ve spoken to. The Verge