Activision Is Making the Next Halo as Xbox Cuts 268 Roles and Reshapes Its Studios

Xbox is eliminating 268 roles and reorganizing much of its first-party studio structure. The biggest creative change is that Activision will develop the next Halo title through a new, purpose-built team. Xbox says that team is separate from the ongoing development and plans for Call of Duty.

The September 22 announcement also changes the reporting lines for Rare, World’s Edge and Obsidian, combines Playground Games and Turn 10, and confirms that Ninja Theory is entering consultation over a proposed closure after two separate agreements fell through. Proposed does important work there: Xbox has not said Ninja Theory is already closed.

The next Halo is moving to a dedicated Activision team

Xbox’s official memo is specific about both sides of the Halo change. Activision will develop the next game with a new team built for Halo, while a small team at Halo Studios will continue supporting the community and games already on the market.

That means Halo Studios has not disappeared. It also does not mean an existing Call of Duty team is simply being reassigned to Halo. Microsoft explicitly separates the new group from Activision’s ongoing Call of Duty work.

Xbox has not named the next Halo title, announced its platforms or given it a release window. The memo also does not identify the team’s leadership or say what form the game will take. Anything more specific about the project remains speculation.

The personnel impact is broader than Halo. The 268 eliminated roles are spread across Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and Xbox Game Studios management and central functions. Xbox says the actions completed since July, including studio divestitures, put the previously announced restructuring roughly three-quarters of the way to completion.

How Xbox’s studio structure is changing

The reorganization places several studios and business units under new or combined leadership:

New structure	What Xbox confirmed
Activision	Expands its remit to World’s Edge and Rare, and houses the purpose-built team developing the next Halo
Bethesda	Expands its remit to include Obsidian
King	Expands its remit to include Microsoft Casual Games
Playground Games + Turn 10	Become one studio focused on the Forza and Fable franchises

Obsidian will continue its existing projects under Bethesda, including Grounded and a new Fallout project made with Bethesda Game Studios. Xbox did not announce cancellations connected to the move.

Playground and Turn 10 are also being combined formally after more than a decade of working across the Forza franchise. The new unit will focus on Forza and Fable, but the announcement does not give it a new name or explain how individual teams will be organized. It also does not say Forza Motorsport has been cancelled.

The changes arrive during a wider shift in how Xbox works with internal and external studios. The company recently expanded its publishing relationship with Kojima Productions for PHYSINT, while other platform moves include its new disc-to-digital test.

Compulsion, Double Fine and Undead Labs have transitioned out

Xbox also provided an update on three studios moving away from the company. Compulsion Games and Double Fine returned to management in August with their intellectual property, back catalogs and runway funding. Undead Labs has now completed a similar transition.

The change does not cancel State of Decay 3. Xbox says the game will still launch day one on Game Pass with a new publisher, although the memo does not identify that publisher.

Those details matter because the announcement covers several different outcomes at once. Some teams are changing oversight inside Microsoft, others have transitioned out with their work, and two remain in consultation. Treating all of them as studio closures would be inaccurate.

Ninja Theory faces a proposed closure; Arkane remains in consultation

Ninja Theory’s position is the most precarious. Xbox says two separate agreements for the studio fell through and that it will now begin employee consultation on a proposed closure while continuing to explore other options.

That is not a final closure decision. The process is beginning, and Microsoft’s own wording leaves open the possibility of another outcome. The announcement does not explain who the potential counterparties were or what happens to Ninja Theory’s projects and catalog if no alternative is found.

Arkane is at a different point. Xbox says consultation with Arkane remains underway and is expected to continue through the end of the year. It does not announce a final result for the studio, and the memo does not support describing Arkane as closed.

What Xbox has not announced

For all the structural detail, several obvious questions remain unanswered. There is no title, date, platform list or creative lineup for the next Halo. There is no announced name for the combined Playground and Turn 10 studio. Xbox has not identified the new publisher for State of Decay 3, and neither the Ninja Theory nor Arkane consultation has reached a publicly confirmed outcome.

The safest way to read the reset is therefore as a map of confirmed organizational changes, not a list of cancelled games. Xbox has reassigned oversight, combined teams, completed three studio transitions and started a proposed-closure process. The memo does not justify filling the gaps with franchise cancellations or final closure claims that Microsoft has not made.