Xbox announces Halo layoffs and other changes as part of the big “reset”
The sweeping layoffs at Microsoft’s Xbox division continue. Matt Booty, Xbox Chief Content Officer, confirmed on Tuesday that 268 employees at Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and the Xbox Games Studios management team will be laid off. In a memo to Xbox employees, also released on Tuesday, Booty outlined the latest significant changes at Microsoft’s gaming division. The Halo franchise will now be transferred to Activision.
Booty also confirmed that Microsoft plans to shut down Hellblade developer Ninja Theory. What this means for the recently announced Senua, the sequel to Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, is currently unclear.
Activision will assume oversight of Rare and the Age of Empires studio World’s Edge. According to Booty, Activision will also develop the next Halo title, “led by a new, dedicated team working independently of ongoing development and plans for Call of Duty. A small team from Halo Studios will continue to support the Halo community and the games already on the market.”
Booty explained that plans to find a buyer for Ninja Theory had failed and that Microsoft would now “discuss a possible closure with employees while exploring other avenues for the future.” Talks with Arkane, the developers of Dishonored and Blade, “are ongoing and are expected to continue until the end of the year,” Booty added.
Halo Studios is the latest team affected by the mass layoffs at Xbox
Microsoft’s latest round of layoffs follows previous cuts in July, when Xbox chief Asha Sharma eliminated 1,600 jobs and announced plans to reduce the workforce by a total of 3,200 employees over the next year. These cuts included entire studios, such as Double Fine Productions and Compulsion Games, which were separated from Xbox Game Studios and re-established as independent studios, as well as Undead Labs and Ninja Theory, which were sold to undisclosed third parties.
These layoffs also affected employees from other departments, including Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang and Xbox Game Studios.
“We are now competing not only with the biggest publishers, but also with smaller, independent studios. It is neither possible nor desirable to own every large independent studio,” Sharma explained in a memo at the time. Sharma also promised to reduce management levels at Xbox to optimize collaboration between teams.
