Xbox is cutting hundreds of jobs and making changes to the production of its flagship Halo franchise, as its company-wide "reset" continues.
Its latest reductions, forming part of a wave of ongoing layoffs, will impact staff at the studio which now makes Halo - with Call of Duty publisher Activision to take on development of any future games.
Jez Corden of Windows Central said the change was a "dramatic move", while gaming analyst Christopher Dring said it raised questions over whether it could help revive what was once Xbox's "crown jewel".
Xbox chief executive Asha Sharma said in July the Bafta-winning studio behind the Hellblade games would be spun off, alongside four others, amid its downsizing.
Xbox's announcement of a further 268 cut jobs comes after Sharma revealed in July that the company was "beginning the most significant restructure in Xbox history".
Xbox said on Tuesday that Halo Studios would continue to support the game's community and work on existing games, as opposed to focusing on any new release.
Christopher Dring, editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Game Business, said the military sci-fi shooter was once Xbox's "crown jewel" but that hadn't been the case "for more than a decade".
Dring said bringing Halo under Activision's leadership "makes sense", though the company would be "mindful not to lose what makes Halo unique".
As well as leading any new Halo game development, Xbox said Activision's remit would expand to manage the World's Edge studio, home to the Age of Empires franchise, as well as the studio Rare and its series Sea of Thieves.