- Xbox is cutting an additional 268 roles across multiple studios.
- The company is also reorganizing its studios, with Activision now being responsible for World’s Edge and Rare.
- Bethesda now also includes Obsidian, while Playground and Turn 10 have been merged.
Earlier today, multiple reports claimed Xbox will soon continue its major reset from July this year with additional layoffs. Multiple studios were also expected to be consolidated. Now, the company’s CCO, Matt Booty, has confirmed these details in a new memo.
Matt announced that Xbox is eliminating an additional 268 roles across Halo Studios and multiple other first-party teams, while Microsoft overall has seen 600 job cuts. This pruning also includes roles from XGS management and various other central function layers.
These layoffs come after Xbox already removed 1600 roles in July, and the company aims to remove over 3000 headcount by the end of FY27. Xbox confirmed that the restructuring is now almost 75% complete.
Why it matters: Xbox aims to streamline its gaming business so it can focus on money-making franchises by cutting out unnecessary layers and roles. However, the big reset is quite controversial, as many talented developers have been laid off.
The new memo also mentions that several studios are being reorganized together. Activision will now be responsible for World’s Edge and Rare. The publisher will also oversee the development of the next Halo title under a new team separate from Call of Duty.
A small team at Halo Studios will continue to oversee support for the community and games in-market. Meanwhile, Bethesda now includes Obsidian under its umbrella while continuing current titles, including a new Fallout title in collaboration with Bethesda Game Studios.
The goal is to strengthen our franchises and games by operating fewer business units, aligning groups that already work closely together, and focusing our publishing expertise.
-Xbox.
Xbox has also merged Playground Games with Turn 10, with the single entity continuing work on Forza and Fable. Regarding Arkane, discussions about its future will continue until the end of the year.
Meanwhile, two separate deals to buy Ninja Theory fell apart, so the studio could be shuttered if no solution is found. Undead Labs did move to a new publishing arrangement, so State of Decay 3 remains planned for a day-one Game Pass release.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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