Microsoft has announced widespread layoffs across its Xbox division, leading to the cancellation of several major game projects, including Rare’s Everwild and the long-awaited Perfect Dark reboot.
According to a report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, hundreds of Xbox employees were let go, with layoffs impacting multiple studios under Microsoft’s gaming umbrella. Among the hardest hit was The Initiative, a recently established studio responsible for developing Perfect Dark. The studio has now been shut down entirely.
Rare’s Everwild, originally announced in 2019, has also been scrapped after years of uncertain development. Rare is best known for titles like Sea of Thieves, and Everwild was one of its most anticipated upcoming releases.
In addition to these cancellations, other Microsoft-owned studios including King (developer of Candy Crush), the teams behind Forza Motorsport, Call of Duty, Halo, and ZeniMax Online Studios (creators of The Elder Scrolls Online) also experienced job cuts. ZeniMax reportedly canceled an unannounced online project.
Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty confirmed in an internal memo that the restructuring was part of a “broader effort to adjust priorities” and “focus resources” amid a shifting industry landscape.
These layoffs follow Microsoft’s recent price hikes for Xbox Game Pass and come after multiple billion-dollar acquisitions, including Activision Blizzard. The move signals a major realignment in Microsoft’s gaming strategy.
The company has not disclosed the total number of layoffs, but reports suggest the number is in the hundreds.
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