Shortly after the launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved, a few developers shared on LinkedIn that they had been laid off, sparking fears of another round of layoffs at developer Halo Studios. The studio once known as 343 Industries came unscathed out of the latest round of mass Xbox layoffs, but that could change quickly, especially since the game's early reception hasn't been great. However, GamesBeat's Dean Takahashi reported that there haven't been any internal job cuts and that those people were external contractors. The source said: No layoffs have occurred at Halo Studios. There are often external contractor shifts that […]

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Following Microsoft's Q1 2026 financials, which reported yet another quarterly decline for the Xbox division and most importantly registered CEO Satya Nadella's mandate that Xbox return to growth in the next fiscal year, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has once again posted a memo. This time, she didn't make it public, but it leaked anyway via The Verge. It features four main tenets: We largely already knew about items one, two, and four; the biggest surprise is arguably the third one. It sounds like Xbox wants to try and take on Roblox with Minecraft, though that'll be far from easy; today's […]

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The devastating layoffs mandated as part of Xbox's big reset hit Maryland-based developer ZeniMax Online Studios very hard, cutting 213 of its employees. Former Senior Encounter Designer Morgan Goin publicly stated that the studio couldn't possibly keep up the pace of The Elder Scrolls Online update it had strived for. Indeed, ZeniMax Online Studios swiftly told fans that the roadmap would have to change, and today Game Director Nick Giacomini has posted a letter outlining exactly how. As you'd expect, it's a bit of a good-news-bad-news situation. Let's start with the good news: The Elder Scrolls Online is here to […]

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Following the mass Xbox layoffs (3,200 employees to be cut by July 2027, not to mention all the codev partners and vendors), developers and analysts started looking into what happened for the division to reach such a low point, and the failure of Game Pass came up in most conversations, especially when a new report revealed that the subscriber base actually decreased from 34 to 30 million. Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler, for instance, opined that they never delivered the big hits a subscription service would need. Anyway, the big question mark now is pertaining to the future of Game […]

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The recent mass Xbox layoffs affected DOOM developer id Software in a major way, removing around 73.5% of the staff at their home office in Richardson, Texas. That worried fans, but the studio has tried to downplay the manpower reduction, suggesting it can still make new games and maintain its idTech engine. Now, DOOM: The Dark Ages Game Director Hugo Martin has returned to the subject during yesterday's episode of the Slayer Club Live streaming series. Martin once again assured fans that there's enough staff to keep going, and he'd personally love to complete the story arc they have in […]

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Xbox's planned 3,200 layoffs by July 2027 are already easily the biggest round of layoffs the industry has ever seen if taken at mere face value, but Bloomberg's Jason Schreier argues that's just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. In a new YouTube video, the journalist highlights the "hidden cuts" of the many contractors that were linked to a canceled project. Nowadays, triple-A game development involves several studios working together, some of which are external. For example, he reveals that the Perfect Dark reboot wasn't developed solely by The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics: sister studio Eidos Montréal was also involved, […]

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ZeniMax Online Studios was among the first-party studios most affected by the Xbox layoffs in both July 2025 and 2026. Last year, the team saw its sci-fi online game Project Blackbird (with related layoffs of a few hundred employees who had been working on it for years) canceled despite then-Xbox CEO Phil Spencer reportedly loving it. The end of Project Blackbird also directly led to the resignation of ZeniMax Online Studios founder Matt Firor, who would later label it as a missed opportunity for Xbox. Following the cancellation of Blackbird, ZOS refocused on its prize jewel, the popular MMORPG The […]

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Amid all the problems that besiege Microsoft's Xbox division, the studio divestitures, the layoffs, the declining business, and even the loss of a few million Game Pass subscribers, lies one lingering question: what actually is Xbox? A platform or the biggest third-party publisher? Microsoft certainly tried its damnedest to confuse consumers with its constantly shifting strategy regarding first-party content, as well as the delirious "This Is an Xbox" campaign. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma quickly tossed it in the trash after taking over from Phil Spencer, seeking a return to the brand's core values. But even she admitted that there's a fundamental […]

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Montréal-based developer Compulsion Games is among the studios that were officially divested from Microsoft's Xbox last week. Indeed, Compulsion Games (like Double Fine Productions) was sold back to its own management and has therefore returned to full independence, but that does not mean they won't need partners. In fact, they haven't wasted any time at all in opening the search. A few hours ago, the official LinkedIn account of the studio posted the following call-out message to fellow industry members: With Compulsion Games returning to its roots as an independent developer, we are expanding opportunities to collaborate with studios across […]

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A storm passed through many internal Xbox studios between studio divestitures and mass layoffs, but Activision Blizzard largely emerged unscathed this time around, likely because it's the main money-maker at present. We know that Call of Duty prints money even in off years, for example. But even the Blizzard side has been doing well lately, thanks to a resurgence of its core IPs: Overwatch, Warcraft, and Diablo. That's what Bloomberg's Jason Schreier confirmed in his latest video, while teasing that the company has "a ton" of projects underway, including the rumored StarCraft shooter game. So right now, Blizzard is kind […]

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[UPDATE - July 11, 2026] The Verge's Tom Warren has now chimed in to say that despite the big layoffs, id Software is not, in fact, a support studio and work has already begun on a new DOOM game. [ORIGINAL STORY] Following the mass layoffs enacted by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma as part of her "big reset" of the division, Texan developer id Software repeatedly made headlines as evidence mounted that it may no longer be fully operational. A WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) filed in Texas revealed that 136 of around 185 employees had been laid off, raising serious concerns […]

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Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is reportedly betting heavily on major Bethesda Game Studios franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, yet it is exactly the studios behind The Elder Scrolls that are among the most affected by the recent layoffs. ZeniMax Online Studios, maker of The Elder Scrolls Online, was forced to cut 213 employees, forcing the team to revise its announced roadmap for the game. But even BGS itself was gutted. The Union already mentioned via social media that dozens were removed, making the road to the launch of The Elder Scrolls VI even harder. Today, IGN published a […]

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We previously reported that DOOM developer id Software was significantly affected by the mass Xbox layoffs, though the extent of it was unclear. Some people said the studio might be halved, but it looks like the situation might be even worse. The website Game Developer managed to obtain a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice filed in Texas, which reports that ZeniMax Media has laid off 158 employees in the state. 22 of them are from Bethesda Game Studios Austin, which works on Fallout 76, and the remaining 136 were cut from id Software, with 96 working at the studio's headquarters […]

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Following the umpteenth destructive wave of layoffs at Xbox, which this time also led to four (possibly five) studio divestitures and thousands more job cuts at historic studios like Bethesda, Obsidian, and id, it has become abundantly clear that the whole strategy centered on Game Pass was flawed. Xbox head Phil Spencer, with the blessing of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, explicitly sought to replicate Netflix's subscription service boom in gaming. However, the reality is that the two forms of entertainment couldn't be more different: games are generally much longer than TV series, for starters. Moreover, unlike TV shows or movies, they […]

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Last week, IO Interactive announced that it was forced to cut some of its staff after Xbox abandoned funding for the Project Fantasy IP, first revealed over three years ago. Today, the developer has confirmed that it regained complete control of the intellectual property and the project, which it still wants to fund out of its own pockets. However, the downside is that the Istanbul studio, which opened in March 2023, will have to shutter. Following the end of our external finance partnership on Project Fantasy, IOI has regained full ownership of the project and our IP. We will continue to develop and […]

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The layoff hammer has finally fallen at Xbox, with CEO Asha Sharma herself announcing that the division will lose 3,200 employees through job cuts and four studio divestitures (plus a wildcard). The wildcard is Arkane Lyon, which the executive says has already begun the obligatory consultation with its Works Council to" review potential strategic options". This suggests every option is still on the table for the studio that made Dishonored and Deathloop: closure, going independent, or finding a buyer. The known quantities are Compulsion Games (Contrast, We Happy Few, South of Midnight) and Double Fine Productions (Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, Broken […]

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Yesterday, with reports of mass layoffs at Xbox looming and set to happen late this week, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) hosted a press conference, where current employees at studios under Microsoft's gaming portfolio spoke out to make it clear they will be fighting these layoffs as much as possible. Though a report today from Kotaku, which spoke to CWA members who attended the conference and presented their own statements reveals yet again how Microsoft has been dragging its feet on negotiating with the unions, leaving developers in a "maddening" state of uncertainty. Seeing Xbox and Microsoft drag their […]

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The rumored Xbox cuts are underway, with at least five first-party studios potentially closing: Double Fine, Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, and Arkane Lyon. But Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is also trimming Xbox's funding for third-party studios: today, they officially pulled out of funding Project Fantasy, IO Interactive's fantasy online action RPG announced in early 2023 and still largely under wraps, given that the Danish developer was busy making 007 First Light. IO Interactive revealed the news in a tweet, confirming that Xbox's decision inevitably forces the studio to lay off staff. However, they also made it clear that […]

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Once again, the video game industry is caught in a limbo state, waiting for the hammer of more mass layoffs to fall, and once again, it's Xbox and Microsoft bringing its gavel down. While Asha Sharma and the rest of Team Green's leadership position these cuts as a "reset" for the company, the CWA and its members point out that the company has tried mass layoffs, multiple times in recent years. Clearly, attempting to 'reset' the business like this hasn't been working, and now, Microsoft is poised to lose what veteran analyst Joost van Dreunen rightfully calls the gaming industry's […]

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