Microsoft is moving ahead with mass layoffs, cutting a little less than 4% of its workforce or about 9,000 roles across the company. As a result, multiple games brewing within Xbox Game Studios were canceled, including some fairly high-profile projects.
When reached for comment, Microsoft directed CNET to reports Wednesday by Variety, confirming their accuracy.
"To position Gaming for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft's lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness," Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer wrote in a staff memo Wednesday morning, as published by Variety.
Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty confirmed the game cancellations in an internal email published by Variety, naming Perfect Dark and Everwild specifically, as well as other "unannounced" titles.
"We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio," Booty wrote in the email. "As part of this, we are closing one of our studios, The Initiative."
Booty added that the decisions to axe these games "reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape. We did not make these choices lightly, as each project and team represent years of effort, imagination and commitment."
What Xbox games have been canceled?
Perhaps the most significant title canceled amid these new layoffs was a reboot of the classic FPS series, Perfect Dark. The studio that had been working on this new title, The Initiative, will be shut down entirely.
The long-awaited new entry in the sci-fi espionage series has been in the works since the studio opened in 2018 and first showed off gameplay footage for the title during an Xbox Games Showcase in June 2024.
Another notable title getting the axe is Everwild, a long-gestating new IP from Rare, the revered British studio Sea of Thieves, which Microsoft acquired in 2002. Over the decades, the studio has also produced the original Donkey King Country games for the SNES, the original Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64, Conker's Bad Fur Day and the Banjo-Kazooie series.
... continue reading