A big thing here is the Forza Motorsport series likely being dead for at least a while with half of Turn 10 getting laid off. That studio is probably just gonna become a Forza Horizon support studio now since FH6 is an extremely important release that I'm sure Microsoft wants to last for a really long time. Forza is known for Horizon now but it started off with Motorsport so this is one of the very original Xbox properties that got its start on the original Xbox going dormant.

It makes sense though since the 2023 Forza Motorsport flopped big time. I feel like not enough people talk about just how badly that game has performed considering the series prestige. It wouldn't surprise me if it hasn't even sold one million yet considering the low amount of Steam reviews which is disastrous since it had a much longer development time than all past Motorsport entries.

It does sound like Forza Horizon 6 is coming out next year. Along with Fable, Playground Games has a lot on their shoulders. So I agree Turn 10 is likely going to be a support studio on Forza Horizon and continue work on ForzaTech.

I am quite excited for FH6 and hope it's notable leap over 5 being the first one not held back by the Xbox One. The Motorsport series never reached the heights of GT but it was still pretty popular during the 360 days so a reboot presumably intended to last a while and benefit from FH exploding in popularity doing this badly is rough for sim racing fans. Since I really like FH I was kinda interested in checking the Motorsport series out but with support for FM 2023 likely winding down a lot after this year not much point in getting it unless it gets a huge discount.

Shareholders. That's the real reason.
Shareholders love staff cuts, it bolsters the share price.

Microsoft wants to jump over that $6 trillion dollar evaluation... Gaming is likely a significant drag on achieving that.

And this is why I love private companies like Valve... Not everything is about the value of the dollar with a privately held company.

There went any incentive I would have had to buy an Xbox Series X.

Imagine all those people who vouched for Microsoft during the process of their big acquisitions a few years back ....

That was discussed to hell n back but fact is, everyone who called for cautiousness and the dire consequences from a human perspective could see this coming from a mile and surprise ....

It happened just like foretold.

Honestly, the moment they started changing strategic focused constantlt and lost most of their management skills at being able to actually steer their studios ships for once in a while tells you everything you need to know about their integrity in the gaming industry ... Basically none.

Xbox is absolutely finished as we knew them. RIP.

Apparently things aren't going well at Halo Studios either:
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/even-before-the-xbox-layoffs-there-was-tension-at-halo-studios-002031995.html?_guc_consent_skip=1751589236

"The mood at the studio is tense, especially when it comes to one project that was recently in crisis, according to the developer. "I don't think anybody is really happy about the quality of the product right now," they said. "There's been a lot of tension and pep talks trying to rally folks to ship." "

Welp, they had a bunch of their staff laid off half a year back. From sources, the current projects still uses outsourced help from outside studios and I wonder if the current opinion on the climate of the leadership at Xbox isn't worsening the situation in part. 

Not a great continuing prospect for a studio who has been mismanaged for far too long since Halo 5 arguably

What will happen if Microsoft exits the console market? We can't be down to only two console makers. -_-