So the rumours doing the rounds this morning were well founded after all. The layoffs keep on coming at Xbox, with 268 more jobs cut as part of the vast restructuring Microsoft has embarked upon, el famoso "RESET". But this new wave isn't limited to job cuts: Xbox is also taking the opportunity to thoroughly rethink how its studios are organised and how several of its major franchises are managed. Indeed, in a message sent to Xbox employees on 22 September, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, confirmed the elimination of 268 roles, mainly within Halo Studios, but also across several first-party studios and Xbox's central functions. According to him, the various measures taken since July, including the studio divestments already announced, mean roughly 75% of the originally planned restructuring has now been completed. Nearly done, in other words, but there's more carnage to come before the year is out.
Halo and Rare head to Activision
The most spectacular change surely concerns the Halo franchise, which will now come under the wing of Activision, the very publisher that looks after Call of Duty. Master Chief's next adventure won't be developed by Halo Studios after all, but by the teams who have spent decades making Kalof the most played FPS on Earth. As a result, Halo Studios will be stripped of a considerable chunk of its staff, and Matt Booty specified that a small team will remain in place to support the community and the Halo games currently available. It's a decision that marks a genuine change of course for a franchise historically associated with Bungie, then 343 Industries, which became Halo Studios in 2024. But that's not all: Activision will also be expanding its remit by picking up Rare, the British studio behind GoldenEye, Banjo & Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing and, more recently, Sea of Thieves.
Playground Games and Turn 10: fuuuuuusion!
Another major change: Playground Games and Turn 10 will now form a single studio, tasked with working on the Forza and Fable franchises. Granted, the two teams have been collaborating for over 10 years, but Microsoft now wants to make it official by bringing their operations together under one roof. Playground Games will continue to carry the Forza Horizon franchise, while Turn 10 was until now the studio historically behind Forza Motorsport. The decision comes after the difficulties faced by the latest Forza Motorsport, and at a time when Forza Horizon is one of the Xbox brand's main shop windows.
Obsidian joins Bethesda
Another shuffle within Xbox Game Studios: Obsidian will now report into Bethesda. Here too, Microsoft justifies the decision by pointing to how closely the two outfits' activities align. Obsidian will carry on with its current projects, notably Grounded, while continuing its work on a new Fallout game made in collaboration with Bethesda Game Studios. Bringing the two together should therefore concentrate expertise around the post-apocalyptic franchise.
For its part, King will absorb Microsoft Casual Games, uniting two outfits specialising in casual gaming and online play. For Matt Booty, this new set-up should allow Xbox to operate with fewer business units, bring together teams that already work closely, and strengthen its publishing expertise.
For Ninja Theory, the shutters are coming down
The situation is far more worrying for Ninja Theory, alarming even. Having spent several months looking for a solution that would let the British studio continue under a new owner, Microsoft saw two acquisition talks ultimately fall through. It will therefore begin a consultation process with employees regarding a possible closure of the studio, while continuing to explore other options. As for the process concerning Arkane, which is the same as Ninja Theory's, it will run until the end of the year. Strength to them.
On the flip side, Compulsion Games and Double Fine have regained their independence in recent weeks, taking back their intellectual properties, their old catalogues and funding to allow them to keep going. Undead Labs has gone the same way and will continue developing State of Decay 3 with a new publisher, while keeping a day one release on Game Pass.
So that's 75% of the Reset plan done at this stage, which means further layoffs are on the cards. And of course, we'll no doubt be talking about it again here on screenactu.
