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Xbox Under One Roof
Over the past couple of weeks, lots of Xbox employees have started returning to the buildings where Xbox began. The Xbox studio campus was originally built during the Robbie Bach era more than 20 years ago, but the covid-19 pandemic forced many Xbox employees to work remotely or take up office space in other buildings as Microsoft cautiously reopened offices.
Xbox chief Phil Spencer is now back on the Xbox studio campus, alongside many of the core Xbox team inside Studio D. Sources at Microsoft tell me they’ve spotted Spencer on campus multiple times recently, allowing Xbox employees to have the type of spontaneous hallway chats with executives that haven’t been possible in recent years.
I’m told Xbox hasn’t had a return-to-work policy in recent years, and a lack of regular quarterly offsites, hallway meetings, and togetherness has created a feeling of disconnect for some. Microsoft certainly struggled to communicate its Xbox strategy effectively both inside and outside the company earlier this year, when some Xbox-exclusive games were announced for PS5.
Most Xbox employees are now moving back into Studio D or the other three nearby studio buildings. I understand Xbox Game Studios chief Matt Booty is still based in the same Redmond town center buildings where Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries and Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 Studios are located.
The hope from some Xbox employees is that having everyone under one roof again will help the company get some of the pre-pandemic energy back. Josh Stein, a senior social media manager at Xbox, posted on X about returning to Xbox Studio D this week: “7 years of memories in these walls and feels good to call it home again.”
Avowed Delayed
Microsoft’s big Xbox holiday quarter is getting slightly smaller. I’m hearing that Obsidian is about to announce an Avowed delay to early 2025. Obsidian accidentally revealed earlier this year that it was targeting a November launch, but with Xbox exclusive S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 delayed to November, things are getting stacked for Xbox games in the all-important holiday season. I understand Avowed is in good shape, this is more a matter of wanting to give the game breathing room outside of a very busy period for Xbox Game Pass. We’re still waiting to see if Bethesda’s Indiana Jones game manages to make its planned December release, too.
