Ninja Theory enters closure consultation as two buyer deals collapse
Microsoft’s Xbox division announced Tuesday it is cutting 268 additional positions and transferring development of future Halo games to Activision, the Call of Duty publisher. The layoffs build on the 1,600 cuts Microsoft made in July, when Chief Executive Asha Sharma said the company was “beginning the most significant restructure in Xbox history.” Microsoft said it intends to shed 3,600 Xbox roles overall and that it is three-quarters of the way through that target.
Halo Studios — which released Halo: Campaign Evolved in July — will continue supporting the franchise’s existing games and community rather than develop new titles, according to Tuesday’s announcement. Activision President Rob Kostich said the company is now building a team to develop the franchise’s next release.
“Our goal is clear: make the greatest Halo game ever, worthy of its universe and legacy, while staying true to what made players love it in the first place,” Kostich said. “We have already begun assembling a purpose-built team, unique in capability and talent, ready and excited to deliver this next chapter with the community.”
Jez Corden of Windows Central described the change as a “dramatic move” and added that “years of mismanagement have eroded” the franchise’s standing. “Halo was once to Xbox what Mario is to Nintendo,” Corden said.
Christopher Dring, editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Game Business, said Halo had been Xbox’s “crown jewel” but that “hadn’t been the case for more than a decade.” Dring said bringing the franchise under Activision’s leadership “makes sense,” though the company would be “mindful not to lose what makes Halo unique.”
Matt Booty, Xbox’s chief content officer, wrote in a Tuesday blog post that attempts to find a buyer for Ninja Theory — the Cambridge-based developer of the BAFTA-winning Hellblade series — had failed after “two separate agreements” fell through. The studio will now enter consultation with employees on a proposed closure, Booty said, though he added that potential buyout talks are continuing. Three of the four other studios Microsoft said in July it would divest have returned to management, while consultation involving Arcane remained “under way,” according to the post.
Activision’s expanded portfolio will also include World’s Edge, home to the Age of Empires franchise, and Rare, the British developer of Sea of Thieves. Bethesda will “expand its remit” to absorb Obsidian, the developer of Fallout: New Vegas, while Xbox is consolidating the studios behind the Forza Horizon and Fable franchises, the company said.
Microsoft said Halo has been a hallmark of the Xbox brand since Microsoft’s first entry into the console market in 2001, helping establish the firm as a major player in the industry. The layoffs, divestitures and franchise reshuffles announced since then have left the gaming division with a smaller workforce and a reorganized studio map. In July, Sharma said the gaming division had not been “healthy” and that while platforms like Game Pass had “created meaningful value,” they had not grown quickly enough. In an August interview with the BBC, Sharma pointed to a “crisis” in rising computing prices and hardware costs as another external pressure on the company.