Rumor: Microsoft Fired Xbox Support Employees, Replaced With Volunteers

Microsoft has made some interesting choices in the past that have left some fans feeling burned including the cancellation of projects like Fable Legends and Scalebound. But a new report suggests that the company might have made a similar choice when it comes to its Xbox Support team.

In case you're not familiar, Xbox Support has a number of helpers who resolve problems on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 front via social media, virtual chat and other means. They've been really good this past few years, answering requests and gathering feedback for the folks at Microsoft.

But according to this report from Polygon the publisher has put its Support team through a hasty recruiting change. It notes that the twelve employees involved with Xbox Support were laid off and replaced with Xbox Ambassadors, including some that had been trained in the past by said support members. And they aren't paid either. Instead, they earn rewards through a pre-set program.

The Xbox Support employees worked through a company called Affirma Consulting but were placed in Microsoft's office in case they needed to ask higher-ups about things.

The information comes from a pair affected by the layoffs, although they did indicate that a small team stayed on board to help the ambassadors.

Polygon reached out to Microsoft on the matter to which it noted, "We continue to have a number of highly-trained customer support agents, plus community ambassadors, available to help customers with their needs."

The Xbox Support program had become particularly popular on Twitter where the Xbox Support account attained more than one million followers. But the shift has been noticeable as tweets and online chat are now handled directly by Xbox Ambassadors.

Apparently Xbox Ambassadors earn rewards through leaderboards and XP that can be then turned into entries for prizes.

One of the former support team members is concerned with this shift, noting that Microsoft could see a hit in its customer service since the Ambassadors aren't as experienced as the paid team was.

Without Microsoft's input, it's really difficult to place reasoning as to why the publisher would perform this cost-cutting action. We'll have to see what kind of impact it has over the next few months in terms of customer service.

We do wish the Support team members the best of luck in landing on their feet.