Change set to take effect from beginning of February next year, it's claimed

Image credit: Microsoft

Xbox have reportedly informed staff that, from the start of February 2027, those within commuting distance of Microsoft's Washington base will have to come into the office four days a week. This follows the mandating of three days in office last year, and comes as the company are looking at cutting more staff as part of ongoing efforts to eventually get rid of 3200 people in multi-round mass layoffs .

"Starting February 1st, 2027, Xbox employees in Puget Sound who live within 50 commuting miles of Studio D are required to work from the office a minimum of four days a week," Xbox's chief people officer Jacinda Chislum Pearson wrote in an internal memo seen by The Verge .

Pearson continued that the company have "thousands of Xbox employees within commuting distance of Redmond" and couched the move as being about the idea that "working together in person makes it easier to review work, resolve issues, and…