Microsoft announced it would downsize Halo Studios and transfer the Halo franchise to Activision, marking the end of an era for the series 25 years after its debut. Two lifelong friends, Clay Purdom and Eric Sams, reflect on their decades-long shared history playing Halo games together as they revisit the franchise's remastered campaign.
Microsoft cut 268 jobs across its gaming division this week, restructured major studios including Halo, and continued its Xbox "reset" that has plagued the platform for years. The layoffs and studio reorganizations—moving teams like World's Edge and Rare to Activision—have raised serious questions about Xbox's future and damaged employee morale, with industry observers questioning whether these cuts reflect sound business strategy.
Microsoft shut down Halo Studios yesterday, laying off hundreds of employees and moving Halo development to Activision. Former Halo leaders Bonnie Ross and Kiki Wolfkill expressed support for affected staff, while one employee was promoted and then laid off in the same week.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney defended Microsoft's decision to move Halo development to Activision, arguing that top-performing studios should lead projects with the most potential. Xbox eliminated 268 jobs across multiple studios as part of the restructuring, with Halo Studios reduced to a support role while Activision builds the next mainline Halo game. Sweeney cited Activision's proven track record with Call of Duty as justification for the shift.
Microsoft has patented an 'ad-credit' system that displays advertisements during natural pauses in PC and Xbox games, temporarily suspending gameplay while players earn ad-free playtime credits ranging from 15 minutes to over an hour. The patent comes as Xbox tests ad-supported cloud gaming, implements monthly streaming limits for Game Pass subscribers starting November 2026, and undergoes significant studio restructuring.
Xbox announced major layoffs affecting Halo Studios, cutting over 250 jobs including longtime developers. Halo game development will shift to Activision while Halo Studios becomes a support studio. Former Halo developers expressed devastation online, describing the cuts as heartbreaking and brutal.
Activision has reportedly taken control of the Halo franchise following Microsoft's XBOX restructuring and layoffs at Halo Studios. The company is claimed to be planning a reboot that will start a new chapter with existing lore abandoned, though details remain unverified. This strategic shift could revitalize the franchise after recent entries underperformed compared to earlier acclaimed titles.
Halo Studios has undergone massive layoffs as part of Microsoft's Xbox restructuring, with claims that only 20 employees remain. Development of future Halo titles has been transferred to Activision, though the exact number of departures is unverified. Recent Halo games like Halo Infinite and Halo: Combat Evolved underperformed compared to earlier franchise titles.
Xbox announced major restructuring consolidating studios and cutting 268 jobs as part of planned 3200 layoffs. Multiple franchises including Halo, Rare, and World's Edge are being moved under Activision, while Obsidian shifts to Bethesda. Analysts describe this as a 'reverse acquisition in slow motion' reflecting Xbox's identity crisis as it prioritizes multiplatform publishing over console competition.
Microsoft is laying off fewer than 600 employees globally, continuing its Xbox restructuring that will total about 3,200 roles by fiscal year end. The company is consolidating game studios, moving Halo development to Activision, merging other studios, and making cuts across cloud, AI, marketing and research divisions.
Microsoft is restructuring Xbox by consolidating game studios under Activision, which it acquired for $69 billion in 2023. Activision will oversee development of the next Halo title, while Bethesda will absorb Obsidian Entertainment, which continues work on Grounded.
Microsoft laid off 268 Xbox staff including Juan Vaca, story director for Gears of War: E-Day, just one week before the game's early access launch. The timing is particularly harsh as Vaca had celebrated the game going gold days earlier, and similar layoffs affected Halo Studios' cinematic director Josh Daniels one day after his promotion.
Microsoft's XBOX has reorganized its studios, moving Rare under Activision and Obsidian Entertainment under Bethesda to strengthen franchises and consolidate operations. The restructuring follows July 2026 layoffs and affects ongoing projects including Grounded and a new Fallout collaboration, with Activision also taking the lead on the next Halo title.
Xbox is laying off 268 workers as part of a broader 3,200-person reduction announced in July, with studios being reorganized and merged. Activision will develop the next Halo game as a mainline installment, taking over the franchise from 343 Industries. Several studios including Ninja Theory are being shut down while others are being spun out or absorbed into larger divisions.
Xbox transferred Rare and the Halo franchise to Activision, announced the closure of Ninja Theory after failed sale attempts, and cut 268 roles across studios. The restructuring includes consolidating multiple studios under different divisions and moving Halo development to a new team at Activision separate from Call of Duty.
Halo is a new post-training framework for open-source models that achieves 2.8x higher throughput than TRL while using less peak memory and maintaining HuggingFace compatibility.
A Bishop ring is a hypothetical rotating wheel space station proposed by Forrest Bishop in 1997 that would use carbon nanotubes to achieve a scale of approximately 1,000 km in radius. The design would generate artificial gravity through rotation and could house 3 million square kilometers of living space without requiring an enclosure. The concept has influenced various science fiction universes including Halo, The Culture, and Outer Wilds.