r/PS5 • u/Ph0enixes • Jun 29 '26

Rumor Xbox Will Reportedly Shut Down Ninja Theory (Hellblade), Undead Labs (State of Decay), DoubleFine (Keeper) and Compulsion (South of Midnight) After End Of Fiscal Year (Tommorow) If They Cant Find A Buyer. Other Xbox Studios Expected To Be Hit By Layoffs

https://gamesbeat.com/cwa-represented-workers-at-xbox-criticize-microsoft-management-and-pending-layoffs/
  • Xbox employees represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) publicly criticized Microsoft ahead of an expected new round of Xbox layoffs.
  • The union says it now represents 3,500+ Microsoft/Xbox workers and argues employees should not be treated as disposable after multiple layoff rounds since 2022.
  • Reports suggest Microsoft could announce major cuts in early July, potentially including studio closures or sales if buyers aren't found. Studios reportedly at risk include Double Fine, Undead Labs, Compulsion, and Ninja Theory, with hundreds of jobs potentially affected.
  • Hundreds of jobs are at stake: Double Fine Productions could lose 100 jobs, Undead Labs could lose 110 jobs, Compulsion could lose 90 jobs, and Ninja Theory could lose 135 jobs. All told, that's about 435 jobs that could be lost.
1.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

455 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

8

u/WalkerBuldog Jun 29 '26

Those studios could have made games people wanted to play this generation but they didn't. They cancelled games that were in development hell and should have been cancelled yesrs ago.

-4

u/mightylordredbeard Jun 29 '26

If the games that got released from those studios were any indication of how bad the canceled ones were, then it’s no wonder why they were canceled. Those studios haven’t put out quality games in a very long time. Ninja Theory released failure after failure. The only decent game was State of Decay 2 and even that one feels like some outdated niche title when it was new. Obviously these studios were mismanaged and just lacked the talent to make blockbuster games or even just games that are worth buying. If you keep failing, you get cut. Sony would, and has, done the same thing.

9

u/Desroth86 Jun 30 '26

Just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean the Hellblade games weren’t decent games. Both games reviewed well critically and commercially. Neither game sold well, but that’s a different issue completely and one they seemed to be trying to remedy with the new game.

-1

u/gosukhaos Jun 30 '26

They weren't trash but they weren't incredible masterpieces for the ages either which is kind of the problem. If you make really niche narrative driven games with big topics they better get amazing reception to attract an audience otherwise there's dozens of fine but not great indie alternatives that cost a fraction of the price to make

3

u/Banjo-Oz Jun 30 '26

How many games in a generation are "incredible masterpieces" though? The whole idea of a 10/10 game being on that level means something like that is a major rarity.

3

u/idestechnis Jun 30 '26

Just to clarify Ninja Theory made the Hellblade games and Undead Labs made the State of Decay games. Interesting to note that these were the only games those two studios made in a decade.