Ninja Theory is at risk of closing after efforts to sell the studio fell through.
In a memo to staff that Xbox shared publicly, the division's Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer Matt Booty said the job cuts are impacting Halo Studios and other first-party developers, as well as the Xbox Game Studios management and central functions team.
A new team that's being formed under Activision will make the next Halo game.
As for Playground and Turn 10, those studios are merging and will continue to focus on Forza and Fable.
State of Decay 3 is still expected to arrive next year on Xbox and PC as well as PlayStation.
5 sentences from our version of the report,
chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below.
How
Summarized version
State of Decay 3 is still expected to arrive next year on Xbox and PC as well as PlayStation. Xbox's efforts to sell Ninja Theory haven't worked out as yet — two separate agreements for the studio collapsed and it now faces being shuttered.
Headline check
All four things this headline claims are in the report.
Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. How this is checked
The article, shortened and in plain language
Ninja Theory is at risk of closing after efforts to sell the studio fell through.
Xbox is laying off 268 people and consolidating studios as part of the "reset" it announced over the summer. In a memo to staff that Xbox shared publicly, the division's Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer Matt Booty said the job cuts are impacting Halo Studios and other first-party developers, as well as the Xbox Game Studios management and central functions team.
In July, Xbox laid off 1,600 people and said it would cut the same number of jobs over the following year as it chases greater efficiency and higher profit margins.
A new team that's being formed under Activision will make the next Halo game.
Obsidian is moving underneath Bethesda's umbrella, while King will oversee Microsoft Casual Games. As for Playground and Turn 10, those studios are merging and will continue to focus on Forza and Fable.
Booty noted that Xbox spun out Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions as independent studios.
State of Decay 3 is still expected to arrive next year on Xbox and PC as well as PlayStation.
Update, September 22, 2026, 11:29AM ET: Added more details about Undead Labs going independent.
Shortened to 1 minute
of reading, this version reads 6.2 on the Niral Score.
You are reading our version, not theirs.
This is Engadget's report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with
verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives
that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations
are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure
this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.
How this outlet filed it, and how we rewrote it
No other newsroom we read has filed on this event, so there is nothing to compare it with yet.
Readers can ask a question about this story here.
Questions and answers are for subscribers.
Sign in
to read them.
Comments are read before they appear where anything in them needs a person to look.
Nothing posted here is ever deleted; a comment taken down keeps its text and the reason,
so the decision can be looked at again. How this works
Engadget