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Forums - Microsoft - Xbox cuts 3200 jobs, Ninja Theory, Double Fine, Compulsion, Undead Labs and Arkane Lyon being divested

curl-6 on 06 July 2026
trunkswd said:
curl-6 said:

Welp, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have found new owners while Double Fine and Compulsion are returning to independence.

Arkane Lyon is in also in the process of being divested:

https://www.vgchartz.com/article/468397/xbox-plans-to-cut-3200-jobs-divesting-5-studios/

On the whole, better than them being closed down.

The bad new is, Xbox is cutting a massive 3200 jobs.

The reports were saying it was going to be a bloodbath with 5 to 7 studios shut down. So this isn't AS bad as that with 5 studios being divested rather than shut down. The number being laid off is still a LOT and sucks to see. But we've also seen mass layoffs across the industry in Europe and the Americas. 

I understand getting rid of the layers of managements. 14 layers is insane and should not have ben the case. Also not having a COO to keep an eye on spending until now is also crazy. 

As G2 said. id Software stings the most with the layoffs. Not confirmed, but possibly half of the studio was let go. 

Yeah as far as studios go this is actually a relief as I was fearing all of the above plus id being shut down entirely.

The number of layoffs does suck, but yeah 14 layers of management is ridiculous, no wonder their operation has been a mess for years if they have a gazillion middle managers all interfering and micromanaging everything while ballooning salary budgets.



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Bizwas on 07 July 2026
G2ThaUNiT said:

 [...] and it’s looking like id Tech is getting retired.

Not that I know much about it but I had the idea that id Tech was actually a very strong and well working engine? I fear if everybody uses UE5 it will make games look more similar in the future. 



Mnementh on 08 July 2026
Bizwas said:
G2ThaUNiT said:

 [...] and it’s looking like id Tech is getting retired.

Not that I know much about it but I had the idea that id Tech was actually a very strong and well working engine? I fear if everybody uses UE5 it will make games look more similar in the future. 

Yes, if everyone uses UE5, everyone will mostly think inside the tools UE5 offers. Which is a lot, but with your own engine you can do much more out of the box. The main reason for everyone (not only XBox) going towards UE5 is simply that management want to be able to easily replace devs. Hire new ones and keep onboarding small. An in-house engine results in new staff need to be trained on the engine. It also limits yor ability to let go of devs once a project is done and rehire if the next projects nears the finish line, as this fluctuation loses too much internal know-how, so they want to minimize know-how specific to your company.



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Bizwas on 08 July 2026
Mnementh said:

The main reason for everyone (not only XBox) going towards UE5 is simply that management want to be able to easily replace devs. Hire new ones and keep onboarding small. An in-house engine results in new staff need to be trained on the engine. It also limits yor ability to let go of devs once a project is done and rehire if the next projects nears the finish line, as this fluctuation loses too much internal know-how, so they want to minimize know-how specific to your company.

Got it.



Wman1996 on 22 July 2026

Wonder if Asha Sharma is meant to be the hatchet lady who will not have as long of a tenure as Phil Spencer. Would not be surprised if she's out by 2030.



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curl-6 on 22 July 2026
Wman1996 said:

Wonder if Asha Sharma is meant to be the hatchet lady who will not have as long of a tenure as Phil Spencer. Would not be surprised if she's out by 2030.

Yeah definitely seems like she's been placed to crack the whip and cut the Xbox division into shape. She inherited a trainwreck from Phil tbh.