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Gears of War: E-Day story director Juan Vaca laid off days before launch

Microsoft's latest Xbox layoffs hit The Coalition's Juan Vaca just after he celebrated E-Day going gold, and Halo Studios' Josh Daniels a day after his promotion.

What to know

  • Microsoft cut 268 Xbox jobs across studios, hitting Gears of War: E-Day story director Juan Vaca just a week before the game's early access launch.
  • Vaca had publicly celebrated the game going gold only four days before his layoff after four years with the company.
  • Halo Studios cinematic director Josh Daniels was laid off one day after being promoted, as Activision takes over development of the next mainline Halo title.
  • The Coalition's long-term future and plans to continue the Gears storyline after E-Day remain unclear following the cuts.

Juan Vaca Story director, The Coalition (Gears of War: E-Day)Josh Daniels Cinematic director, Halo StudiosMicrosoft Xbox parent companyThe Coalition Developer of Gears of War: E-DayActivision Taking charge of Halo's future development

Gears of War: E-Day story director Juan Vaca laid off days before launch
IGN

How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 5 pieces in one hour at Yesterday, 4 AM; 15 pieces over 43 hours (8 articles · 6 posts · 1 comment) Sep 22, 9 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — X 1Sep 22, 10 AM — quietSep 22, 11 AM — quietSep 22, 12 PM — quietSep 22, 1 PM — 3 pieces · 2 articles · 1 post — Google News 1, Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Sep 22, 2 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 22, 3 PM — quietSep 22, 4 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Reddit 1Sep 22, 5 PM — quietSep 22, 6 PM — quietSep 22, 7 PM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Sep 22, 8 PM — quietSep 22, 9 PM — 1 piece · 1 comment — Reddit 1Sep 22, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 3 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — 5 pieces · 5 articles — Google News 4, Newswires 1Yesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Yesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 9 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 12 PM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 3 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 9 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 12 AM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 3 AM — quiet 12
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  1. 2

    Reports detail diverging fates of Halo and Gears studios

    Coverage noted Activision is taking charge of the next mainline Halo game while Halo Studios is being gutted with a small support team remaining, whereas The Coalition's future after E-Day's launch remains unclear despite the loss of key talent.

    1. first by IGN, 1d ago · also Niche Gamer, GameSpot, Eurogamer

      4 more headlines
    • majorlinux@toot.majorshouse.com

      Microsoft is just rotten to its core... Gears of War E-Day's story director has been laid off right before the game launches next month as part of ongoing Xbox cuts https://www. eurogamer.net/gears-of-war-e-d ay-story-director-laid-off-xbox-cuts # GearsOfWar # Labor # Layoffs # Microsoft # Xbox # Gaming

      majorlinux@toot.majorshouse.comMastodon21h agoview on Mastodon ↗
    1 more of the top 2 · 2 posts in this stretch
    • No they make out with a shit load of cash and investments while enjoying a luxurious compensation package while employed, then go off to the next gig once sales are down. They take the gaming world for chumps and we keep investing into our passion and getting dogged over.

      ratherenjoysbassr/technology1d agoview on r/technology ↗
    all of them →
  2. 1

    Social media reacts to the timing of the cuts

    Commenters online noted the harshness of laying off Vaca four days after his gold celebration and firing Daniels a day after his promotion.

    “Just 4 days after Gears of War E-Day's story director celebrated the game going gold, he's been laid off by #Xbox. While the cinematic director at Halo Studios was promoted yesterday, only to be fired today. Harsh is an understatement.”
    — @nib95_
    • Just 4 days after Gears of War E-Day's story director celebrated the game going gold, he's been laid off by #Xbox. While the cinematic director at Halo Studios was promoted yesterday, only to be fired today. Harsh is an understatement.

      @nib95_X1d agoview on X ↗
    1 more of the top 2 · 2 posts in this stretch
    • nesbot@mastodon.social

      Kotaku: Gears of War: E-Day Story Director Laid Off. https://www. resetera.com/threads/1640335 # gaming # videogames # resetera

      nesbot@mastodon.socialMastodon1d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  3. background

    Microsoft lays off 268 Xbox staff, including Vaca and Daniels — Microsoft continued its reset of the Xbox brand, cutting 268 jobs across multiple studios; casualties included Gears of War: E-Day story director Juan Vaca after four years at the company, and Halo Studios cinematic director Josh Daniels, who had been promoted just one day earlier.

  4. background

    Vaca celebrates Gears of War: E-Day going gold — Juan Vaca, story director at The Coalition, publicly celebrated the game reaching gold status about a week before its scheduled early access launch.

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