Man. Even though we knew Xbox had not yet completed its “reset” in which the company projected laying off roughly 3200 employees, it still really sucks seeing the hammer continue to fall. This time, not only are people losing their jobs, but the various studios that employed them are being shuffled around, amalgamated together, or shut down entirely, while foundational Xbox IPs are changing hands. Across social media, the gaming community is reacting to the news with a mixture of frustration and resignation.
This is the real heartbreaking news alongside the other layoffs
While expected since Xbox said we were gonna have these, the fact that we are losing ninja theory and close if not already losing arkane is just depressing
No other words than just sad to see this happen man https://t.co/QCLUBuavjM
— Daboy🕷 (@Daboyui) September 22, 2026
A prominent sentiment is the disbelief that Halo will be taken from 343 Industries and given to Activision Blizzard.
But there’s another sentiment, just as prominent, that because Halo hasn’t been at its best for a while, such a drastic change is necessary or even welcome to turn the seminal franchise around.
But…also, lol.
Halo fans thinking they’re free from 343 only to go to modern COD devs https://t.co/M99LeS9Pno pic.twitter.com/Wd9hqa7XJH
— TheNCSmaster (@TheNCSmaster) September 22, 2026
In addition to the Halo news, Rare—another one of Xbox’s beloved studios, best known these days for Sea of Thieves—is being rolled into Activision Blizzard. Meanwhile, Obsidian will be brought under Bethesda, and Forza maker Turn 10 and Forza Horizon/Fable studio Playground Games will be combined into one. It all kinda feels like watching the zombies in the new Resident Evil movie fuse together in a glob of horrifying flesh, except the flesh is all your favorite Xbox games.
The timing of this news couldn’t be worse, as just last week Xbox announced that it would be the home of Hideo Kojima’s Physint—a game Sony allegedly cancelled for running over budget and deadlines.
Xbox layoffs seeing Kojima getting signed pic.twitter.com/9N4hZlL5TE
— Doomed Gamer (@DaGeekyNerd) September 22, 2026
Folks are also trying to figure out the “why” of it all. Players are trying to game-theory out what exactly Xbox’s overall plan is, or if it has one at all.
But very few people are convinced that whatever Xbox’s plans are, they’ll work, with most instead feeling as if we’re continuing to watch a slow-moving, radioactive train wreck.