The closures of Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Studios and Arkane Austin, and folding of Roundhouse Studios into ZeniMax Online Studios may not be the end of Microsoft’s layoffs. The Verge’s Tom Warren reports that Xbox employees are “bracing for what’s next” and that there are “whispers among employees” of cutbacks at core Xbox Game Studios.
Unfortunately, these may be more than whispers, as Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reports that recent studio closures are the “result of a widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn’t finished.” It also seems there’s more scrutiny on the Xbox division from Microsoft following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
This may affect studios like Ninja Theory, which will release Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 on May 21st for Xbox Series X/S and PC. Warren indicated in his report that a PS5 version is under consideration. However, it’s unclear if this would be a success.
Developers like The Initiative and Undead Labs could also face scrutiny, with Perfect Dark and State of Decay 3 lacking new information since their respective announcements (not to mention reported troubles behind the scenes). As always, time will tell, so stay tuned.
