Halo Studios didn't get to launch even one original title before Xbox decided to let Activision try

For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. Following September 22's 268 layoffs, made in service of 3,200 total gory cuts to Xbox, Microsoft also shared that it was passing along the Halo franchise to Call of Duty publisher Activision. Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more ASGC Games Industry Layoffs Tracker creator Amir Satvat, who recently spoke to Edge for a feature now available to read in the Knowledge newsletter, says, "I think this is as bad as the '83 crash if you're a game developer based in North America or western Europe, in a traditional triple-A studio." Notice that Satvat calls out Western developers in particular. It probably helps, too, that they don't pay their executives $38,649,984 like EA did for CEO Andrew Wilson despite all those Battlefield 6 layoffs.