Xbox Restructuring: Halo Moves to Activision
All the latest on the process revolutionizing Microsoft's gaming division
Last July, Xbox initiated a profound restructuring process that affected several internal studios (and their ongoing development projects) and will unfortunately lead to the loss of 3,200 jobs in total. Today, Matt Booty, Executive Vice President and CCO of Xbox, shared an update on the process, which he says is about three-quarters of the way complete.
How Xbox is Reorganizing
Booty's message reports 268 layoffs, primarily affecting Halo Studios, but also other studios and some management personnel. Furthermore, the internal structure has been reorganized to consist of a smaller number of business units. Specifically:
- Activision will expand its scope to include World's Edge and Rare studios. Additionally, it will develop the new Halo, with a dedicated team separate from the Call of Duty team. Only a small team will remain at Halo Studios, focusing on the community and previous games in the franchise.
- Bethesda will expand its scope to include Obsidian Entertainment. The latter will continue to develop the Grounded franchise and the new Fallout project.
- King will expand its scope to include Microsoft Casual Games, thus taking charge of all casual games within the group.
- Playground and Turn 10 will merge into a single studio, which will handle the Forza and Fable franchises.
The Situation of Studios Exiting Xbox
Booty confirms that Compulsion and Double Fine studios have completed their transition period and have returned to independence, as well as retaining their respective IPs. Undead Labs has found a new publisher for State of Decay 3, which will still be released on Game Pass. As for Arkane, consultations are still ongoing and are expected to last until the end of the year, so discussions will resume in 2027.
Unfortunately, things have taken a turn for the worse for Ninja Theory. For the English studio, which was theoretically supposed to develop Senua, two negotiations have failed, and Microsoft is now exploring the possibility of closure with employees. The door remains open for alternative solutions, but Booty's words do not convey much optimism in this regard.