Microsoft’s Xbox division is cutting 268 jobs across Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and Xbox Game Studios management and central functions. The move is part of a wider restructuring plan that targets 3,200 roles for the company’s 2027 financial year.
The first phase, announced in July, cut around 1,600 positions. Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty said the latest actions, along with studio divestitures, have taken the restructuring to roughly three-quarters of the planned effort.
“The actions completed since July, inclusive of the studio divestitures, bring us roughly three-quarters of the way through previously announced restructuring,” Booty wrote in a message to employees.
The restructuring also changes how Xbox will manage some of its major game franchises. Activision will form a new team dedicated to developing the next mainline Halo title. The team will operate separately from Activision’s Call of Duty development. A smaller group at Halo Studios will continue supporting existing Halo games and the player community.
Activision will also take responsibility for World’s Edge and Rare. World’s Edge develops the Age of Empires franchise, while Rare is known for Sea of Thieves. Activision President Rob Kostich said the company wants to ‘make the greatest Halo game ever.’
Xbox is also consolidating several studios under different parts of its gaming business. Bethesda will oversee Obsidian, while Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios will operate as one studio handling Forza and Fable.
Microsoft Casual Games, which includes titles such as Solitaire and Minesweeper, will move under King. Several studios have also moved toward independence. Compulsion Games and Double Fine became independent in August, while Undead Labs followed a similar path.
Ninja Theory faces a proposed closure after two attempts to sell the Hellblade developer failed. Xbox said it will begin consultations with employees as it considers other options. The restructuring is not yet complete. Xbox scheduled a company town hall for October 6, where Booty is expected to discuss the division’s next phase.
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