GoKawiil
Tech News
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.
Microsoft has restructured its Xbox game studios, placing Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries), Rare and Age of Empires developer World's Edge under Activision's control. The move accompanies 268 additional layoffs, with the remaining Halo team reduced to a small community-support unit while Activision assembles a new team to lead the franchise's future.
Microsoft announced further restructuring at Xbox as part of cuts affecting roughly 3,200 employees, consolidating several studios and shifting development of Halo to a different team. Obsidian is moving from Xbox Game Studios to Bethesda to focus on Fallout, Microsoft's casual games like Minesweeper and Solitaire are shifting to King, and Playground and Turn 10 are merging into a single studio.