Xbox announced that 268 positions would be eliminated on Tuesday, September 22, in another round of cuts affecting several first-party teams. Halo Studios, The Coalition, World’s Edge and Treyarch were among the studios identified so far, while Xbox Game Studios was also named more generally.
Halo Studios cinematic director Josh Daniels said he was promoted one day before being laid off. In a LinkedIn post, Daniels wrote that being “promoted and laid off in the same week is pretty wild.” He added that he was one of many Halo Studios employees affected and was open to Cinematic Direction or Production roles.
Daniels had spent 11 years with Xbox in some capacity and had worked at Halo Studios since 2024. Before joining the studio, he worked at Turn 10 on the Forza Motorsport series beginning in 2015. His announcement adds to earlier reports that identified at least three affected Halo Studios employees, though no total number of cuts has been established.
The move follows Xbox’s reported plans for hundreds more cuts and studio consolidation, which had left the final headcount and affected teams unconfirmed.
Studios and teams named so far
The affected groups currently identified are:
- Halo Studios
- The Coalition
- World’s Edge
- Treyarch
- Xbox Game Studios in a broader company-wide category
The impact varied from team to team. Some studios saw only a handful of staff members let go, while another lost just under half of its team. More studios could still be identified as additional details emerge.
Xbox’s wider restructuring continues
The 268 positions were part of the 3,200 job reductions announced in July. That plan included 1,600 jobs already cut and another 1,600 planned across the coming fiscal year.
Matt Booty, Xbox’s chief content officer, said in Xbox’s September 22 statement that the company was roughly three-quarters of the way through the planned restructuring. The announcement also said Rare and World’s Edge would move under Activision, Obsidian would be placed under Bethesda, and Playground and Turn 10 would merge.
Xbox also said the next Halo game would be developed at Activision by a purpose-built team, while a smaller Halo Studios group would continue supporting games already on the market. Xbox has not publicly provided a Halo Studios layoff total.
Those changes put the latest job losses alongside a wider reorganization of Xbox’s studio structure. For employees and players, the named teams offer a clearer view of where the latest reductions reached, even though the full list may not be complete.
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