Microsoft's Xbox division to stop making sports games, cut 76 jobs

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) _ Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox video game business will lay off 76 workers and stop making some sports games, the company said. <br/><br/>Microsoft said it will stop producing team sports

Friday, August 20th 2004, 11:31 am

By: News On 6

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) _ Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox video game business will lay off 76 workers and stop making some sports games, the company said.

Microsoft said it will stop producing team sports games such as ``NFL Fever,'' ``NHL Rivals'' and baseball game ``Inside Drive.'' But the company said other sports-themed games such as the golf title ``Links'' and the snowboard game ``Amped'' won't be affected.

Employees were informed of the cuts earlier this week, the company said.

The move was not a complete surprise, since Microsoft said in March that it would not make any new versions of the affected sports games this fall. Then in May it struck a new a partnership with Electronic Arts, maker of popular games such as ``Madden NFL,'' to allow those games to be played online through Microsoft's Xbox Live service.