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Microsoft is set to reduce its video game division, Microsoft Gaming, by approximately 8%, leading to the layoff of around 1,900 employees from the recently acquired gaming giant, Activision Blizzard, as well as Xbox.

The global gaming industry now commands a net worth of upwards of $300 billion a year. There are many reasons behind why this media sector, once a close market rival of Hollywood, radically outgrew all other forms of entertainment in the 21st century.

Japanese electronics giant Sony yesterday upgraded its annual sales and net profit forecasts, driven by strength in its music business and favorable foreign exchange rates.

The conglomerate said its annual net profit for the year to March 2024 should reach 860 billion yen ($6.0 billion), up from a previous estimate of 840 billion yen.

It's not "game over" yet for Microsoft's quest to buy the video game maker Activision Blizzard, but the software giant is starting to run out of clear pathways to complete its $69 billion takeover.

A major setback came on April 26 when British antitrust regulators said they would block the acquisition.

Sony upgraded its annual net profit forecast yesterday, saying it expects strong results in its key gaming sector as the weak yen inflates profits on products sold abroad.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment giant said net profit in the April-December period jumped five percent year-on-year to 809 billion yen ($6.3 billion).

Nintendo's profit for the nine months through December slipped 2.5 percent, as shortages of computer chips hurt production, the Japanese video game maker behind the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises said yesterday.

Microsoft only entered the console market in 2001

Sony's PlayStation reported that its network was back online and claimed that it had been attacked, three days after it and Microsoft's Xbox went down in an outage.
      
An allegedly coordinated Christmas day hack brought down the gaming consoles, both hot gifts for the holiday season, although Xbox has been working at near full capacity since Friday.