Asha Sharma continues to remake Xbox, shifting key Xbox Game Studios IP and developers to Activision Blizzard King and Bethesda Softworks.
The Xbox bloodbath that began back in June continues today with the platform holder announcing the next phase in it's massive restructuring. While the previous announcement focused on divesting five studios and eliminating 1000+ jobs, today's restructuing fundamentally changes Xbox Game Studios, moving many of its owned and first-party IP and studios to the third-party publishers it had previously purchased. It also means Xbox is laying off 268 people, a bad look considering how much money was likely spent acquiring the publishing rights to Kojima Productions' Physint.
Probably the most remarkable change in today's restructuring is that Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries), the team hand built to handle Halo following Bungie's departure, has effectively been shut down. Activision will now be handling the IP, building out a new purpose-built team to tackle Halo. It is unknown if this new team will be built within a current Activision developer (ex: Sledgehammer Games), or under a brand-new development team. Activision will also take control of Rare and World's Edge. A skeleton team will remain at Halo Studios to support current Halo titles.
This is a remarkable development for what was once Xbox's crown jewel. Under Bungie's direction, the Halo franchise quickly became the go-to reason to buy an Xbox. Halos 1-3, ODST, and Reach were all well-received, garnering numerous Game of the Year awards and nominations. The franchise was never the game under 343 Industries/Halo Studios with the developer struggling to articulate a coherent vision for the franchise. Halo 4, Halo 5:Guardians, and Halo Infinite all played in drastically different ways.
The move to Activision likely keeps the door open for Halo to continue launching on other platforms. Xbox and Halo Studios had previously confirmed that Halo would release on PlayStation moving forward. Though that was before Asha's arrival, Xbox has not made a move to reverse that statement.
The other announcements are not as dramatic as Halo joining Activision, but nonetheless fit the pattern of Xbox Game Studios being hollowed out. Obsidian is officially joining Bethesda Softworks so that they can better collaborate on the Fallout franchise, which they are both currently developing games for. The studio will continue working on its current projects, including Grounded. King will absorb Microsoft Casual Games. Finally, Playground and Turn 10 will combine into a single studio focused on Forza and Fable.
Today's restructuing fundamentally changes Xbox Game Studios, moving many of its owned and first-party IP and studios to the third-party publishers it had previously purchased.
As for the studios Xbox divested? Compulsion and Double Fine have successfully made the jump to independence, saving themselves from closure. Undead Labs has found a new publisher and continues its work on State of Decay 3. Consultation with Arkane remains ongoing. Things for Ninja Theory, however, aren't looking too good with two different agreements falling through. Unless a new agreement happens, Xbox will move to shut down the studio.
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