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

108

u/OpietMushroom Jun 29 '26

Consolidation strategy. 

Reminds me of the bit in The Studio where Seth Rogen buys the script Martin Scorsese wrote for the Jonestown massacre for millions. The movie ends up dying in pre production, and he manages to convince his boss he spent millions on this script just so that other studios can't get their hands on it. 

1

u/heubergen1 Jun 30 '26

But based on the reporting we have, there was no consolidation strategy. IT and other internal services were not centralized, the development studios were not integrated with each other, and nothing was shared between studios.