topic
Layoffs
4 dispatches on Layoffs.
How Xbox's Reset Turned a Bond Game Win Into Layoff Collateral
After 007 First Light's launch success, IO Interactive faces layoffs when Xbox drops funding for Project Fantasy. A case study in platform power—and how a studio's fortunes shift overnight.
The Gap Between What Microsoft Promised and What It's Doing to Xbox Workers
Microsoft laid off Xbox employees this week—including hundreds of union workers—despite a 2022 neutrality agreement. The gap between labor commitments and execution is widening.
Xbox's HR Machine Is Eating Its Own Witnesses
Game Developer's latest reporting documents a disturbing pattern at Xbox studios: employees who file HR complaints or testify in investigations describe being targeted in subsequent layoffs. Former Halo Studios art director Glenn Israel is the named tip of a much larger iceberg.
Bungie Just Proved It Can Still Deliver. Now It May Lose the People Who Did It.
Destiny 2's final update shipped to genuine player acclaim—then came reports of 50% workforce cuts. The real story is what happens when a studio has no greenlighted follow-up and a replacement game that's running out of runway.