With layoffs looming over studios under the Xbox umbrella, former employees of the company have come forward to discuss its many issues. Speaking to Game Developer, the employees have confirmed that one of the biggest problems with the company has been a single recurring issue – that speaking out or pushing back against the alleged toxic behaviour of superiors led to them being fired.
Among these employees is former art director at Halo Studios, Glenn Israel, who had previously spoken out against the studio’s leadership’s harassment campaigns and retaliation. His statement essentially warns Xbox employees still working at the company to be well aware of their rights under various labor laws in their country.
“Make yourself aware of state and federal statutes of limitations for reporting such actions to relevant regulatory organizations, which vary from 60 to 300 days by location,” he said. “If you are laid off, consult an attorney before signing anything and at the very least secure a document retention agreement.”
While Israel has spoken out openly against the company, others spoke under condition of anonymity due to fears of retaliation from Microsoft and other potential employers. They went into detail about how even filing complaints with the HR department or making use of their legal rights led to them either being fired from the company or being pressured to leave on their own. Israel said that he “roughly a dozen” former employees he spoke with had shared similar experiences.
One of these employees said that they had become caught up in mass layoffs after serving as a witness in an internal investigation against an executive at their studio. This executive allegedly “viciously berated employees in meetings,” and even tried to identify the witness. A second one spoke out against a member of their studio’s leadership team verbally abusing subordinates. This led to the employee in question being placed into a “performance improvement plan” for “disrespecting them” during a team meeting, and the employee ultimately ended up being fired as a result.
A third employee said that they saw their studio’s leadership retaliating against another employee who had filed for an ADA accommodation request for her disability. They noted that these executives would start retaliating against employees the moment the studio’s working conditions were questioned. “If you show any signs of not drinking the Kool-Aid…we don’t want you anymore,” they said.
Israel himself had spoken about facing things like “blacklisting, rampant favoritism/cronyism, and multiple harassment campaigns designed to provoke the constructive discharge of ‘unwanted’ employees otherwise in good standing” at Halo Studios. When he filed complaints with HR in June 2025, a senior Global Employee Relations representative reportedly started threatening him with retaliation and promising that they would “quash any further investigation.”
He has also noted suspicions of Microsoft using its mass layoffs as a chance to get rid of employees who have previously filed “proper and effective” complaints. The investigation teams of the company’s HR department are also alleged to be compartmentalized so that they could “obfuscate responsibility and create plausible deniability.”
“I know that our industry is in truly dire straits now, but as a matter of public interest I cannot in good conscience recommend seeking employment at this organization or continuing there if you have *any other option*,” wrote Israel. “Your effort and expertise are not respected. You are not fairly compensated. If you refuse to engage in political gamesmanship, your career will stall; if you object, you will be forced out. I have the evidence – you are not safe.”