XBOX had already gone through one massive round of restructuring earlier this year, resulting in thousands of layoffs, studios being sold off, and plenty of uncertainty surrounding Microsoft’s gaming business. At the time, Microsoft positioned those changes as necessary to reset XBOX and build a stronger business going forward. I didn’t particularly like what I was seeing then, and after today’s announcement, I like it even less.
Microsoft has now revealed the next phase of that restructuring, and personally, I think it’s a mess. Another 268 people are losing their jobs, several major XBOX studios are being moved underneath Activision, Bethesda, and King, Turn 10 and Playground Games are being combined, Halo Studios will no longer lead development of the next Halo, and Ninja Theory is now facing closure after Microsoft failed to sell the studio. Microsoft calls this a reset, but from where I’m sitting, it looks more like Microsoft continuing its race toward the bottom and gutting XBOX piece by piece. Yes, that’s definitely quite a bit to take in.
According to a message sent to XBOX employees, Microsoft is eliminating another 268 positions across Halo Studios, other first-party developers, XBOX Game Studios management, and central functions. Microsoft...
