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Microsoft dissolves Halo Studios, moves franchise development to Activision

Microsoft shut down most of Halo Studios in broad Xbox layoffs affecting 268 staff, moving Halo development to Activision.

newest coverage 8h agosummary written 13h ago5 pieces2 likes & upvotes MastodonNewswiresGoogle News

What to know

  • Microsoft shut down Halo Studios in broad Xbox cuts affecting 268 staff, reducing it to a skeleton crew while moving major Halo development to Activision.
  • Hundreds of Halo employees were laid off, with unconfirmed reports suggesting the total across all affected Xbox divisions is in the hundreds.
  • The reorganization also affected multiple other studios: Ninja Theory appears to face closure, Undead Labs suffered major layoffs, and several studios were reassigned under different corporate divisions.

“Hundreds of incredibly talented team members are being impacted with creatives, designers, engineers, producers, artists, narrative and audio specialists, data insights, ops, community leaders and franchise teams who poured their passion into Halo.”

Bonnie Ross, Former Halo head · Eurogamer ↗

Microsoft Company conducting layoffsBonnie Ross Former Halo head and 343 Industries founderKiki Wolfkill Former 343 Studios leaderJosh Daniels Cinematic director at Halo Studios

Microsoft dissolves Halo Studios, moves franchise development to Activision
eurogamer.net

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

Peak 3 pieces in one half hour at Yesterday, 9 AM; 5 pieces over 29 hours (3 articles · 2 posts) Sep 22, 9:04 PM — quietSep 22, 9:34 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 22, 10:04 PM — quietSep 22, 10:34 PM — quietSep 22, 11:04 PM — quietSep 22, 11:34 PM — quietYesterday, 12:04 AM — quietYesterday, 12:34 AM — quietYesterday, 1:04 AM — quietYesterday, 1:34 AM — quietYesterday, 2:04 AM — quietYesterday, 2:34 AM — quietYesterday, 3:04 AM — quietYesterday, 3:34 AM — quietYesterday, 4:04 AM — quietYesterday, 4:34 AM — quietYesterday, 5:04 AM — quietYesterday, 5:34 AM — quietYesterday, 6:04 AM — quietYesterday, 6:34 AM — quietYesterday, 7:04 AM — quietYesterday, 7:34 AM — quietYesterday, 8:04 AM — quietYesterday, 8:34 AM — quietYesterday, 9:04 AM — 3 pieces · 2 articles · 1 post — Google News 1, Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Yesterday, 9:34 AM — quietYesterday, 10:04 AM — quietYesterday, 10:34 AM — quietYesterday, 11:04 AM — quietYesterday, 11:34 AM — quietYesterday, 12:04 PM — quietYesterday, 12:34 PM — quietYesterday, 1:04 PM — quietYesterday, 1:34 PM — quietYesterday, 2:04 PM — quietYesterday, 2:34 PM — quietYesterday, 3:04 PM — quietYesterday, 3:34 PM — quietYesterday, 4:04 PM — quietYesterday, 4:34 PM — quietYesterday, 5:04 PM — quietYesterday, 5:34 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Yesterday, 6:04 PM — quietYesterday, 6:34 PM — quietYesterday, 7:04 PM — quietYesterday, 7:34 PM — quietYesterday, 8:04 PM — quietYesterday, 8:34 PM — quietYesterday, 9:04 PM — quietYesterday, 9:34 PM — quietYesterday, 10:04 PM — quietYesterday, 10:34 PM — quietYesterday, 11:04 PM — quietYesterday, 11:34 PM — quietToday, 12:04 AM — quietToday, 12:34 AM — quietToday, 1:04 AM — quietToday, 1:34 AM — quiet 1–2
yesterday8 AM4 PMnow · 2:04 AM ET
  1. 1

    Halo cinematic director promoted and laid off in same week

    Josh Daniels, a cinematic director at Halo Studios, revealed he was promoted and then laid off within the same week due to the cuts, exemplifying the sudden and disruptive nature of the restructuring.

    “Promoted and laid off in the same week is pretty wild. I'm one of the many hit by the Halo Studios layoffs.”
    — Josh Daniels
    • majorlinux@toot.majorshouse.com

      How do you get promoted one day and fired the next?! Microsoft! That's how! Former Halo leaders "gutted" by effective closure of Halo Studios, as one employee finds themselves promoted and fired in same week https://www. eurogamer.net/halo-studios-clo sure-xbox-cuts-kiki-wolfkill-bonnie-ross # Halo # HaloStudios # Labor # Layoffs # Microsoft #…

      majorlinux@toot.majorshouse.comMastodon8h ago2▲view on Mastodon ↗
  2. 2

    Bonnie Ross and Kiki Wolfkill respond to Halo Studios closure

    Former Halo leaders expressed distress at the closure. Bonnie Ross, founder of 343 Industries (which became Halo Studios), called it difficult to wake up to the news. Kiki Wolfkill, who led 343 Studios for years, said she was gutted and offered support to affected employees.

    “It was difficult to wake up to the news that the Halo Studio is essentially being shut down today, with only a small number of roles remaining.”
    — Bonnie Ross
  3. background

    Microsoft cuts 268 Xbox staff, effectively closes Halo Studios — Microsoft conducted major layoffs across Xbox divisions, affecting 268 people across Halo Studios, unnamed first-party studios, and Xbox Game Studios management. Halo Studios was reduced to a small support team, with major Halo development transferred to Activision.

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 2 outlets Former Halo leaders lament effective closure of Halo Studios, as one employee finds themselves promoted and fired in same week

    first by Eurogamer.net, 16h ago · also Eurogamer