Microsoft’s “reset” of Xbox has reached the part where the org chart gets redrawn. The Bungie-born franchise that defined Xbox now belongs to the studio that makes Call of Duty.
In a memo republished on Xbox Wire, Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty confirmed another 268 layoffs spanning Halo Studios, other first-party teams, and the Xbox Game Studios management and central functions layer. Booty said the division is now roughly three-quarters of the way through the restructuring it announced in July.
Activision is developing the next Halo game with a new, purpose-built team, while a small Halo Studios contingent keeps supporting Halo titles already on the market. Rare and World’s Edge have also moved under Activision. Obsidian now sits under Bethesda, continuing projects like Grounded and a new Fallout title made with Bethesda Game Studios, and King absorbs Microsoft Casual Games. Playground Games and Turn 10 are merging into a single studio focused on Forza and Fable.
Then there are the divestitures. Undead Labs has left Xbox on terms similar to Double Fine’s and, with a new publisher, will still release State of Decay 3 day one on Game Pass. Ninja Theory wasn’t as lucky. After two separate agreements for the Hellblade developer collapsed, Xbox will begin consultation on a proposed closure while still exploring other options. Consultation with Arkane continues. We first reported that Ninja Theory was on the chopping block back in June, weeks before the first wave of layoffs made the reset official.
For PC players, the line that should sting most is about World’s Edge. Creative director Adam Isgreen says just under half of the Age of Empires studio was laid off in this round (Ed: Does anyone else call it Ants or Elephants besides me?). Age of Empires is about as PC-native as a Microsoft franchise gets, and it now reports to a publisher built around annual console shooters.
Our take: consolidating Halo under Activision is an admission that Halo Studios couldn’t ship the next game on its own. Whether a Call of Duty-adjacent team understands what makes Halo feel like Halo is the whole question. Hellblade II was one of the best-looking games on PC, and losing the team that made it is the part of this reset that’s hardest to defend.
Discussion (4 replies)
Join Discussion →Yeah, Microsoft. Walks off in disgust with head held low.
Wait isn't this the second or third time that halo has passed between studios? Do we even REALLY care at this point. All of the same regional programmers will end up working on whatever project is in their region again.
*blinks* Is this really news? I always thought the news was IT teams or Developers that kept people for more than 5 years.
More blood in the water
When Bungie left Microsoft, 343 Industries was formed to take over the IP, mainly composed of ex-Bungie members. Later the studio's name was changed to Halo Studios, or some sh1t like that. And now that has basically been shut down, and the Halo IP is at Activision. F*cking weird. But once Bungie was outta the picture, the Halo IP was basically screwed anyways. 4 was an admirable effort I guess, 5 was crap, 6 was okay. I doubt Activision can do better. But I also don't think anyone can really do worse.