The last few weeks in gaming have been pretty rough across the board. Between PlayStation announcing the end of physical games and upcoming Xbox layoffs, the gaming landscape feels poised for a big shift. And not one that many gamers are optimistic about. Xbox’s reset plan, which will reportedly include major layoffs from Xbox Game Studios, will likely begin in earnest in the coming days. Rumors about which studios are on the chopping block abound. As Xbox plans to lean on its tentpole franchises, core studios are likely safe. But that doesn’t mean it’s all business as usual.
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Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has noted that part of the Xbox Reset plan is trying to put out big games more quickly. For Xbox, that means a focus on Bethesda franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. But it also means Halo, one of the most well-known Xbox franchises out there. Thus, it seems likely that Bethesda and Halo Studios will be spared major layoffs. However, that doesn’t mean things won’t change. A new report from reliable insider Jez Corden suggests Xbox is looking long and hard at Halo going forward.
Halo Studios Unlikely to Shut Down in Layoffs, But Halo Is Under Heavy Scrutiny
There’s no denying that Xbox has had a rough go of it in recent years. Games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed underperformed. Xbox really needs a win, yet major games like Fable have been delayed to 2027 to avoid the incoming release of Grand Theft Auto 6. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any big Xbox games headed our way this year. The highly anticipated Halo remake, Campaign Evolved, is set to release in just a few weeks on July 28th. Given the apparent state of finances at Xbox, it’s likely that a lot is riding on the success of one of the company’s biggest franchises.
And apparently, that’s top of mind for Xbox going into the impending restructuring. Not long after Xbox insider Jez Corden refuted claims that Obsidian Entertainment is at risk of closure, someone brought up Halo Studios. The troubled studio, which X user @jdchicagogaming says has “the most problems,” isn’t among the list of rumored studios Xbox plans to shut down. And according to Corden, there’s a reason for that. Halo Studios is reportedly safe from layoffs, but under heavy scrutiny from the higher-ups.
“Xbox is very, very, very heavily evaluating how Halo is run,” says Corden. “Some of these cutbacks revolve in allocating resources towards fixing Halo.” He closes out with “watch this space,” suggesting he may well already have more info he’s not yet ready to share. From the sounds of it, Halo Studios is safe from significant cuts for now, but Xbox will be putting on the pressure to ensure future games perform well.
That’s not entirely surprising. After all, the last major Halo release, 2021’s Halo Infinite, fell short of Xbox’s expectations for such a major franchise. And this isn’t the first report to suggest that Xbox is shoring up its historical successes at the expense of other cuts. The likely incorrect rumor that Obsidian was on the chopping block, for instance, also implied that Xbox was making cuts to make up for poor performance from another major franchise, Call of Duty.
What exactly it will mean to “fix Halo” remains uncertain. Depending on how Campaign Evolved performs when it releases later this month, that may well mean the tried-and-true remake route over new installments. Or, Xbox could have something else in mind entirely. But from the sounds of it, we can expect some changes to future Halo titles, and not just a likely pivot back to Xbox exclusivity.
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