Xbox cuts 268 jobs and moves Halo
Activision is to take over development of the next Halo game as part of a new reorganisation of Xbox Game Studios.
Xbox is cutting 268 roles worldwide across Halo Studios, other first-party studios and central management. At the same time, Activision is to take over development of the next Halo game.
The reorganisation was announced on Tuesday in a post on Xbox Wire. Microsoft described the move as part of a broader restructuring of Xbox Game Studios. According to the company, the roles being cut are at Halo Studios, other internal development studios, and management and central functions.
The most striking change concerns Halo. Activision is taking charge of the next game in the series and will have to assemble a new team for it. According to the announcement, that team will be separate from the development organisation working on Call of Duty. Halo Studios will remain involved in existing games and support for the franchise, according to reports.
Other responsibilities are also being reshuffled. Activision is taking on a larger role around Rare and World’s Edge. Bethesda is expanding its oversight to Obsidian. Playground Games and Turn 10 are being merged, while Microsoft had already announced that it wanted to reorganise its portfolio of studios and projects.
The new move follows an earlier round of layoffs at Microsoft Gaming. The Associated Press reported in July that Microsoft was cutting a total of 4,800 jobs, a large proportion of them within Xbox, and that Xbox had already announced additional cuts for the current financial year. The 268 roles come on top of that earlier reorganisation.
For players, there will not automatically be any short-term changes to existing Halo titles. The announcement contains no release date for the next game and no details about its design, platforms or the staffing of the new team. The move does make clear, however, that Microsoft wants to concentrate development and oversight more heavily around a few major publisher brands.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The main organisational changes are based on Xbox Wire. The context about earlier layoffs was separately confirmed by the Associated Press.
- confirmed Xbox is cutting 268 roles. — Mentioned in the company’s announcement. source
- confirmed Activision is taking over development of the next Halo game. — Part of the announced reorganisation. source
- confirmed Microsoft previously announced 4,800 layoffs, including many roles at Xbox. — Confirmed by the Associated Press. source
Editor's note
The reorganisation and the shift of Halo to Activision come from the company’s announcement. The consequences for future games, quality and release dates remain unknown.Sources
- Continuing Our Reset — Xbox Wire
- Microsoft cuts 4,800 jobs, including many at Xbox in a reset of its gaming division — Associated Press
More on this in Dutch media
- NOS — „xbox microsoft”
- Het Parool — „xbox microsoft”
- NRC — „xbox microsoft”