GoKawiilMicrosoft cuts 268 Xbox jobs, guts Halo Studios in latest reset
Microsoft laid off 268 employees across its gaming division this week and restructured major studios and franchises, including cutting most of Halo Studios' staff while keeping a small team to support existing titles like Halo Infinite. According to sources cited by the reporter, the next mainline Halo game was years from release, prompting Microsoft to shut it down rather than continue development.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The repeated layoffs since early 2024 suggest Microsoft is still struggling to define what Xbox's hardware, software and studio strategy should look like going forward. Employees describe lasting morale damage, which could affect Microsoft's ability to retain talent for future first-party titles as it leans more on outsourcing work like Halo to Activision.
- 268 jobs cut this week across Microsoft's gaming division
- Most of Halo Studios' staff laid off, with a small team kept for existing games
- A source says the next Halo title was years from shipping before being scrapped
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See Xbox Wireless Controller on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: theverge.com — Tom Warren, 2026-09-24
Published there as: “The Xbox reset gets ugly”
Read the original report → The summary and analysis above are GoKawiil's own, written from reporting by the source above. Facts and quotes belong to the original publisher.