Overview
- Xbox will cut about 3,200 jobs across fiscal 2027, with roughly 1,600 positions eliminated immediately on Monday and the remainder phased through the year.
- The company confirmed four first-party studios will leave Microsoft: Compulsion Games and Double Fine will become independent while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs will move to new owners with funding to finish current projects.
- Arkane Studios’ Lyon office has entered a legally required works‑council consultation to review strategic options, a process that could take months and may affect the studio’s future.
- Leadership and operating changes include promoting Helen Chiang to Xbox chief operating officer and having Mojang and King report directly to CEO Asha Sharma as Xbox narrows its studio portfolio and flattens management layers.
- Microsoft says no publicly announced first‑party games are being cancelled and frames the reset as necessary after years of heavy studio spending, weak Game Pass monetization and margins far below peers.