Latest news with #HaloStudios
Engadget
15-07-2025
- Business
- Engadget
Laid off Candy Crush studio staff reportedly replaced by the AI tools they helped build
Microsoft's extensive gaming portfolio was hit hard by sweeping layoffs earlier this month. The situation appears to have been particularly galling for staff at Candy Crush developer King who are reportedly set to be replaced by AI tools they worked on. Multiple anonymous sources have told that a number of narrative, UX, level design and user research staffers at King have spent several years helping to build and train AI models that can do their jobs more quickly. Those same employees are now being told their jobs are at risk. They added that the copywriting team is facing the same fate, with the London-based group working on Farm Heroes Saga expected to effectively be cut in half. "The fact AI tools are replacing people is absolutely disgusting but it's all about efficiency and profits even though the company is doing great overall," a source told the mobile gaming-focused outlet. "If we're introducing more feedback loops then it's crazy to remove the developers themselves, we need more hands and less leadership." The same source estimated that the company-wide staff cuts could end up being more than 200, which was the number reported by Bloomberg when it broke the news of the broader layoffs. The impact of the recent staffing upheaval is being felt across Microsoft's gaming division. Engadget's Jessica Conditt recently spoke to employees at Halo Studios, with one developer telling us they were "super pissed" about the layoffs. At least five people within Halo Studios were told they no longer had jobs shortly after receiving an all-staff email from Microsoft Gaming SEO Phil Spencer allegedly celebrating Xbox's current profitability. The same developer said Microsoft was trying its "damnest to replace as many jobs as [it] can with AI agents" as it increasingly pushes Copilot on its staff.
Metro
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Halo remake may be single-player only as insider talks of 'a lot of tension'
New reports point to multiple Halo projects in development and a tense atmosphere, hampered by Microsoft management. The future of Halo, once an important franchise synonymous with the Xbox brand, has looked awfully murky ever since the launch and subsequent underperformance of 2021's Halo Infinite. As such, there appears to be a concerted effort to get the series back on track, with 343 Industries being rechristened as Halo Studios last year and announcing some important changes that will help define the next era of Halo games. Although nothing concrete is confirmed, multiple Halo projects are in the works, with a remake of the original Halo being a recurring rumour, but the behind the scenes situation is allegedly far less rosy than fans would've hoped. To assuage the lack of any official news, Halo insider Rebs Gaming (who previously reported on the cancelled plans for Halo Infinite) shared new claims about Halo Studios' future projects. First and foremost is the aforementioned Halo: Combat Evolved remake, which some believe Xbox boss Phil Spencer teased for next year when he mentioned 'the return of a classic that's been with us since the beginning' at the Xbox summer showcase. 2026 would be the perfect time for a Halo 1 re-release of some kind, since that year marks the 25th anniversary of both the Halo series and the Xbox brand as a whole. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Rebs Gaming claims that this is precisely the case, according to his own sources. He also says that the game could launch on PlayStation 5, which seems likely when other Xbox exclusives like Gears Of War are seeing releases on Sony's console. Curiously, Rebs Gaming's sources say they've not heard anything about the remake featuring multiplayer, suggesting it'll only contain the original campaign mode. This seems bizarre when multiplayer is one of Halo's most popular features, especially as the main campaign is only around 10 hours long. It's not uncommon for remasters and remakes to leave out the multiplayer mode though, even for something where it's a key component of the original, such as Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Other games, from Mass Effect to The Last Of Us have also omitted their multiplayer in later releases, although the upcoming Gears Of War: Reloaded will retain its. Aside from that, Rebs Gaming says an 'indirect sequel' to Halo Infinite, which he dubs Halo 7, is in the works, as well as a dedicated multiplayer game called Project Ekur. Apparently, Project Ekur is being built from the bones of the previously rumoured battle royale spin-off, Project Tatanka, though development is being handled by Certain Affinity, which has served as a support studio for the Halo series' multiplayer since Halo 2. While this might all sound quite exciting, especially since at least one of these projects is likely to be unveiled at the Halo World Championships this October, a separate report paints a rather bleaker picture of Halo Studios. In the wake of the latest round of Xbox layoffs, an anonymous developer at Halo Studios spoke with Endgadget, revealing that five of their co-workers had been let go and expressing rightful indignation over the email Phil Spencer sent out, boasting that the Xbox business was highly profitable – despite thousands of job losses. 'I'm personally super p****d that Phil's email to us bragged about how this was the most profitable year ever for Xbox in the same breath as pulling the lever. I wasn't sure what part of that I was supposed to be proud about,' said the developer. They also insisted that Microsoft is 'trying their damndest to replace as many jobs as they can with AI agents,' which is perfectly believable with how much Microsoft as a whole is investing in AI technology. However, these layoffs weren't a tipping point. Things have apparently been tense within Halo Studios for a long while, with one unidentified project said to have recently been in a state of crisis. 'I don't think anybody is really happy about the quality of the product right now,' the developer added. 'There's been a lot of tension and pep talks trying to rally folks to ship.' All this makes sense when you remember how tumultuous things were at Halo Studios in 2023. At the beginning of the year, the Halo Infinite campaign team was gutted as part of previous layoffs, with former employees blaming upper management for 'incompetent leadership.' Both franchise director Frank O'Connor and head of creative Joseph Staten also opted to leave Microsoft, continuing a worrying trend of high profile Halo exits. There was even chatter of Halo Studios no longer being allowed to make new games and being reduced to overseeing third party studios. While that hasn't happened, the studio was reportedly downsized in 2024, with the new plan being to outsource development to contracted studios. This is something Endgadget's report has corroborated. Although there's no mention of Halo Studios only working in a supervisory role, there has been a shift since 2023 towards contracting other studios to help speed up production on Halo projects. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Over 6,000 people have lost their jobs at Xbox in less than two years MORE: Xbox is being set up to fail by Microsoft bosses, claims insider MORE: Xbox Game Pass has been 'damaging the industry for a decade' says Arkane founder
Engadget
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Arkane founder calls Game Pass an 'unsustainable model' that's wrecking the industry
Arkane Studios founder Raphael Colantonio had some harsh words for Game Pass in a thread on X, calling it an "unstainable model" that's "damaging the industry." He also said that Microsoft's ability to throw "infinite money" at the platform will eventually wane because "reality has to hit." Colantonio continued by saying Microsoft will "kill everyone else, or give up" and that gamers only like the service because "the offer is too good to be true." He also wrote that these same players will turn on the platform when "they realize the effects on the games," alluding that the Netflix-style approach allows for underwhelming titles. His remarks follow last week's major layoffs, in which Microsoft let go of over 9,000 people. Many of the impacted employees were involved with the company's gaming divisions and first-party developers. Halo Studios lost people, as did the Candy Crush maker King. Some studios were shuttered and a bunch of games were cancelled. It sucked. However, the general consensus is that Microsoft's continued investment in AI played a role in these layoffs, and not the existence of Game Pass. Colantonio says that AI's involvement "might be a BS excuse." While there's no evidence that the subscription-based catalog service contributed to the job cuts, there is some data that suggests Game Pass hurts the sales numbers of titles under its umbrella. This makes a certain amount of sense. AAA games are $70 and Game Pass is $10 to $20 per month. Anecdotally, I picked up a subscription to play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle instead of buying the game directly from Bethesda. Arkane Studios is the firm behind games like Deathloo p, Dishonored and Prey . The company's currently working on a game based on Marvel's resident vampire hunter Blade.
Engadget
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Even before the Xbox layoffs, there was 'tension' at Halo Studios
At least five employees at Halo Studios have been fired as part of company-wide layoffs at Microsoft on Wednesday, according to a developer with knowledge of the situation. An estimated 200 to 300 people remain at the studio. Employees across Microsoft's Xbox division received an email from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer Wednesday morning addressing "organizational shifts" hitting the team over the coming days. Halo Studios employees who were laid off received an additional invite to a meeting with organization leaders, and two (very long) hours later, the Teams call began. Amid discussions of severance packages, the reasons provided for the firings aligned with Spencer's memo — to "increase agility and effectiveness." "I'm personally super pissed that Phil's email to us bragged about how this was the most profitable year ever for Xbox in the same breath as pulling the lever" on the layoffs, the developer told Engadget. "I wasn't sure what part of that I was supposed to be proud about." Halo Studios is currently working on multiple games, including the next mainline Halo installment, and it's the steward of Halo: Infinite , which is quietly spinning down its content cadence. The mood at the studio is tense, especially when it comes to one project that was recently in crisis, according to the developer. "I don't think anybody is really happy about the quality of the product right now," they said. "There's been a lot of tension and pep talks trying to rally folks to ship." The studio recently teased that it would reveal what it's been working on at this year's Halo World Championship in October. Halo Studios was rocked by layoffs in 2023, back when it was still called 343 Industries, and that culling mostly affected people on the campaign and narrative teams, including Halo veteran Joe Staten. (This is also the reason Halo: Infinite hasn't had a continuing storyline since that time period). Today, Halo Studios employs a blend of full-time employees and contractors, with junior producers and quality assurance roles generally contracted out. 343 Industries came under fire from fans for the launch state of Halo: Infinite , and over the years several ex-employees have spoken out about the studio's reliance on contractors, who typically work with the company for a maximum of 18 months. The employee I spoke with said that, since 2023, there's been a general shift toward working with contracted studios — rather than individual contractors — in the United States and Europe to speed up Halo production. This mirrors the way other major FPS franchises like Call of Duty and Battlefield are developed. "Xbox in general feels years behind the curve in game development, and it leads to a lot of wasted time and effort," the employee said. At the same time, multiple departing team members have spoken warmly about their time at Halo Studios and the people they worked with. The layoffs at Microsoft on July 2 affected 9,000 employees globally, including 830 in Washington, where Halo Studios is based. The Xbox division endured significant firings, game cancellations and studio closures. A Microsoft spokesperson said the Xbox team did not absorb the majority of the layoffs, but given its relatively small size in the organization, that framing may not accurately reflect the impact. Under the Xbox banner, Rare's Everwild and The Initiative's Perfect Dark reboot were cancelled, and The Initiative was fully shut down. Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 Studios reportedly lost a "vast majority" of its employees, and Rare, ZeniMax Online Studios, King, Raven, Sledgehammer Games and Halo Studios have all reportedly been affected. ZeniMax president Matt Firor is out after 18 years leading the studio, and it's being reported that veteran Rare designer Gregg Mayles is also gone after decades with his team. And to top it all off, Blizzard is sunsetting Warcraft Rumble . Microsoft has increasingly focused on AI, a shift that's propelled its stock price to new highs. At Meta's Llamacon in April, CEO Satya Nadella said that as much as 30 percent of the company's code is now written by AI. Activision in February admitted to using AI in Black Ops 6 . It's unclear how much AI has to do with this latest round of layoffs, but use of Copilot is "no longer optional" within Microsoft. The developer I spoke with said, "They're trying their damndest to replace as many jobs as they can with AI agents." News about specific Xbox teams popped up throughout the day as employees shared their experiences on social media and spoke with various publications. Microsoft laid off 1,900 Xbox employees in January 2024 and 650 more in September, and last year it closed Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games and Tango Gameworks (the latter of which was acquired by Krafton). Microsoft reported a net revenue of $25.8 billion in the first three months of 2025, with an eight percent yearly increase in revenue from Xbox content and services. Microsoft told Engadget that the layoffs will affect less than four percent of the company's global workforce. A statement from a Microsoft spokesperson reads as follows: "We continue to implement organizational and workforce changes that are necessary to position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace." If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Metro
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Halo team promises ‘official scoop' on series' future later this year
Amid rumours of a PS5 remake of the first Halo, a major announcement is set to be made in just a few months time. Last year, 343 Industries announced big changes were in store for the studio and the Halo series. For starters, the developer underwent a rebranding and is now called Halo Studios, dispelling rumours it was being kicked off the series. It also confirmed that more than one new Halo video game is currently in development, though there's still no official word on what any of them are. However, the team did show test footage of how future games will look in Unreal Engine 5, as the developer finally replaces the aging Slipspace Engine used in Halo Infinite. Anyone who hoped for a big reveal at last month's Xbox showcase was no doubt disappointed by the complete lack of Halo news, but that seems to be because it's being saved for the Halo World Championship esports event later this year. In a new blog post about the event, Halo Studios references how it used last year's event to detail the aforementioned behind-the-scenes changes and its plans for multiple games. As such, it intends to share the 'official scoop on what Halo Studios has been working on', so as to convince more people to attend the event live in Seattle, Washington, which is scheduled to run on the weekend of October 24. The blog acknowledges the 'fair amount of speculation about when and where more details might emerge about any of the multiple projects Halo Studios is actively working on,' but stops short of discussing any specific rumours. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. While we wouldn't be surprised if Halo Studios is teasing something more innocuous, the obvious assumption (and the one we're sure many fans will make) is that it's planning to properly show off one of the new Halo projects. No official details on any future Halo games have been shared yet, but a common rumour is that a new remake of the very first game, Halo: Combat Evolved, is in the works. Such a project could also see the series make its debut on PlayStation 5, thanks to Microsoft's new approach to releasing its exclusives on other platforms. Another of Halo Studios' possible projects is a new mainline game to follow on from Halo Infinite. Earlier this year, a March report detailed the long-term plans for Halo Infinite's post-launch period and how those plans were ultimately scrapped. It's possible some of those ideas are being reworked for a sequel, but Halo Studios could also have opted to start from scratch. Either way, the goal of supporting Halo Infinite for 10 years isn't happening, at least not to the degree the studio and Microsoft originally had in mind. More Trending While Halo Infinite is a solid game, its post-launch suffered from long delays, abandoned content, and behind the scenes mismanagement. The multiplayer was never abandoned though, and has still seen updates and manages to regularly attract a few thousand players on Steam. However, it's evident that Halo is no longer as significant to the Xbox brand as it was during the heyday of the original trilogy, which was handled by the now Sony owned Bungie. Nevertheless, the changes within Halo Studios suggest there's a concerted effort to revitalise the series, especially with it being described as the 'next chapter.' And while some diehard Xbox enthusiasts will balk at the idea of Halo on PlayStation (or Switch 2), it would certainly help reach a new audience, especially if the series really does go back to basics with a new version of the first game. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Halo on PS5 now more likely thanks to Unreal Engine 5 claim multiple sources MORE: Halo and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth coming to Switch 2 claims insider MORE: Xbox to be hit by fourth wave of layoffs in 18 months says report
