Microsoft to cut 1,900 gaming staff, including recently acquired Activision 

With offices in both Cork and Dublin, Activision Blizzard employs around 400 people across its Irish subsidiaries

In an email to staff, Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer wrote that the cuts represented about 8% of Microsoft’s 22,000 gaming workers.

Microsoft will lay off 1,900 people across its video-game divisions including at Activision Blizzard which has offices in both Cork and Dublin.

Established in Ireland in 1995, Activision Blizzard is a US video gaming company which was acquired late last year by Microsoft for $69bn - marking the largest-ever deal in the gaming industry. However, fears of job cuts among Irish staff were quickly prompted following the deal.