Xbox is cutting hundreds of jobs and making sweeping changes to the production of its flagship Halo franchise, as its company-wide “reset” continues.
Its latest reductions, forming part of a wave of ongoing layoffs, will impact staff at the studio which currently makes Halo – with Call of Duty publisher Activision to take on development of any future games.
Jez Corden of Windows Central said the change was a “dramatic move”, while gaming analyst Christopher Dring said it raised questions over whether it could help revive what was once Xbox’s “crown jewel”.
It comes as questions also mount over the future of other notable Xbox studios, including Cambridge-based game developer Ninja Theory.
Xbox chief executive Asha Sharma said in July the Bafta-winning studio behind the Hellblade games would be spun off, alongside four others, amid its dramatic downsizing.
But Matt Booty, chief content officer at Xbox, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday, external that attempts to find a buyer for the studio had failed – with “two separate agreements” falling through.
He said Ninja Theory would now enter into consultation with employees on a proposed closure, though potential buyout talks are continuing.
Of the four other affected companies, three have now returned to management, while consultation for Arcane remains “under way”, Booty added.
Xbox’s announcement of a further 268 cut jobs comes after Sharma revealed in July that the company was “beginning the most significant restructure in Xbox history”.
It saw 1,600 jobs cut immediately, amid 3,600 planned losses overall.
The company says it is three quarters of the way through its planned restructure.
Sharma said, external at the time that the Microsoft’s gaming division had not been “healthy” and while platforms like its subscription plan Game Pass had “created meaningful value”, they had not grown quickly enough.
In an interview with the BBC in August, she also pointed to the “crisis” in rising computing prices and hardware costs as another external pressure on the company.
