Bernie Sanders has turned Microsoft's Xbox restructuring into a political flashpoint, criticizing the company after it confirmed plans to cut about 3,200 gaming jobs while also preparing another Xbox Series X|S price increase.
In a post on X, the Vermont senator linked the cuts to Microsoft's profits, a tax break, CEO pay and Xbox hardware pricing. His criticism gives the Xbox layoffs a wider audience outside gaming, where the immediate focus has been on affected workers, studio spin-outs and the future of Microsoft's first-party portfolio.
"Last year, Microsoft made $101 billion in profits, got a $12.5 billion tax break from Trump & paid its CEO $96 million. This year, it’s raising the price of an Xbox by $150 & eliminating 3,200 jobs. Please don’t tell me corporate tax breaks create jobs. It never trickles down."
Microsoft announced the wider cuts on July 6, saying it is eliminating around 4,800 roles, about 2.1% of its global workforce. The company said the changes mostly affect its Commercial and Xbox organizations, while Xbox CEO Asha Sharma separately told employees that roughly 3,200 roles will be reduced across the gaming business through fiscal 2027.
Sanders' criticism lands during a major Xbox reset
The timing is especially sharp because Xbox is not only cutting jobs. Microsoft is also changing the shape of its game studio group after years of acquisitions.
In Sharma's Xbox Wire memo, Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions are set to return to management and become independent studios with their IP, catalog and runway for future projects. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have entered terms to move to new ownership with funding attached for Senua and State of Decay 3, while Arkane's management in France is beginning consultation with its Works Council to review strategic options.
The official memo framed the cuts as part of what Sharma called "the most significant restructure in XBOX history." It also said none of Xbox's publicly announced first-party games or projects are being canceled as part of the reductions.
Gamers Now previously covered the broader 3,200-job Xbox restructure, including the studio departures and Microsoft's plan to simplify management layers. Sanders' post does not add new operational details to that plan, but it reframes the same cuts around the question of whether Microsoft can justify layoffs while remaining highly profitable.
Xbox hardware prices are part of the backlash
Sanders also pointed to Microsoft's latest Xbox hardware price increase, which begins on August 1. Microsoft previously said 512 GB Xbox Series X|S models will rise by $100, while 1 TB models will increase by $150. The company is also sunsetting the 2 TB Xbox model after current inventory is sold.
That increase has already made Xbox hardware a tougher sell for console buyers. Gamers Now covered the new Xbox Series X|S price hike when Microsoft announced it, including the company's explanation that storage and memory costs had climbed sharply.
Microsoft's own explanation for the layoffs is broader than console pricing. In a companywide message, chief people officer Amy Coleman said the roles were not being replaced by AI, though she added that AI is changing how work gets done. Sharma's Xbox memo also cited lower margins than comparable platform and publishing businesses, a smaller installed base this generation, slower-than-expected growth from Game Pass and multiplatform bets and what she called the industry's most severe hardware crisis.
Sanders' argument is simpler: Microsoft is cutting thousands of workers after a highly profitable year, while also asking Xbox customers to pay more for hardware. Whether readers agree with that framing or Microsoft's reset rationale, the exchange shows how the Xbox layoffs have moved beyond a games-industry restructuring story and into a broader debate about corporate profits, pricing and job cuts.