Some new rumors have appeared about upcoming Xbox Game Studios layoffs, and they’re quite serious.
The rumors first appeared at the start of the week, as Jason Schreier said that these were specifically at Microsoft’s gaming division. And then, industry veteran George Broussard claimed that Microsoft was actually closing studios, and they could be laying off between 1,000 to 2,000 game developers.
Now, even more rumors hint at specific studios targeted for layoffs. As shared on ResetERA by user –R, Tom Warren of the Verge claimed that Turn 10 Studios in particular is bracing for cuts.
Turn 10 Studios is a longtime developer of the Forza Motorsport games, alongside Playground Games, who makes the Forza Horizon games. Playground Games is currently working on Fable, but Turn 10 has continued development on the 2023 version of Forza Motorsport as a live service title.
Warren also said that managers were already told about the layoffs, so there are people who are actually preparing for these announcements.
And then, ResetERA user Jon God shared this on the forum’s thread about this layoff rumor:
I can confirm Stoic was effect, and some were laid off, after MS slashed their budget, but development is still ongoing, but morale has taken a hit.
Stoic Studio made their name on The Banner Saga, and most recently released Towerborne this year. The latter game is also being developed as a live service game, and the game is currently in preview/Early Access status but not quite officially released.
These pick of studios seem to hint at some things that could already tell us about the nature of these layoffs ahead of announcements. First things first, it now looks like these layoffs will come from the Xbox Game Studios division. Specifically, these may no longer affect the teams in Bethesda and Activision Blizzard King.
Secondly, it looks like these are affecting the studios making live service games. It may be that studios making single player games won’t be affected. Now, one may question why those games are being treated differently, but it may be a case of expectations. For Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II and South of Midnight, even with their AAA production values, there is a limit to their budgets. Live service games require constant investment to keep revenue flowing, so expectations are considerably higher for them.
Regardless if these hypotheses are true or not, we wouldn’t want these rumors to be true. It does seem that we should be bracing for this bad news when it finally comes.
