The Internet Reacts To Even More Xbox Layoffs And Studio Shakeups: 'I Loathe Those Responsible'

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.

stupid fucking industry

— matte jones (@pillowfort.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T14:08:34.398Z

Lovely that the years-long studio buying spree resulted in nearly every studio Xbox bought closing or rolling into another. Just decimating years of history and work in one go.

— Hayes Madsen (@solfleet.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T14:05:33.108Z

I have nothing kind or nice to say about this.

— Rer (@reruro.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T14:17:39.724Z

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

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A prominent sentiment is the disbelief that Halo will be taken from 343 Industries and given to Activision Blizzard.

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What is there even to say about this Xbox stuff? Incredibly grim, legendary fumbles all around. A complete untangling of the weave, nothing but tatters and loose thread..

"Activision will also be developing the next Halo title" sounds like a threat. lmao

— Harper Jay (@dreamcastaway.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T14:38:10.497Z

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.

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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

Even though the Halo franchise has been gutted for failing to meet unrealistic expectations, at least Bungie, the original creators of Halo, have also been separately gutted for failing to meet unrealistic expectations

— Phil Salvador (@philsalv.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T14:48:31.567Z

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.

Am I reading this correctly that they're putting *RARE* into the CoD mines? That's depressing. Jesus.

— John Michonski (@john.gamesline.net) 2026-09-22T14:07:29.894742Z

the next time you see banjo kazooie will be in heaven

— Zack "Anacin Skywalker" Kotzer (@zaaack.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T14:40:57.964Z

More developers for the Call of Duty mines!

— JayCee Jay (@jayceez.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T14:17:00.538Z

Obsidian never was able to escape the fact they made the better Fallout game and everyone wanted them to make another, and now it’s circled back in a horrifically ironic way

— Hayes Madsen (@solfleet.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T14:20:22.463Z

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

Okay time to find out how many millions they paid for the rights to Kojima's new game.

— Alexandrian Apologist (@goldenslowpoke.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T09:07:53.574Z

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.

My theory is Microsoft wants to sell Xbox as fast as humanly possible

My evidence is Microsoft hates Xbox

— Chris Plante (@plante.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T15:42:21.592Z

this whole xbox thing feels like a true emperors no clothes moment. there is so obviously no plan, anything announced yesterday is overruled tomorrow, that even reporting the facts feels laughably insufficient.

— headfallsoff (@headfallsoff.com) 2026-09-22T14:30:22.842906Z

If anything, this new structure just highlights how much Microsoft is relying on IP. Everything is under the umbrella of one IP, with multiple studios focused on it. It's the CoD model

news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/0…

— Carli Velocci 👽 (@carlivelocci.com) 2026-09-22T14:07:42.142Z

Only 1k+ layoffs to go in a 'reset' that is lasting months interspersed with the Kojima deal and pieces highlighting the CEO taking on support tickets.

I would say all this does not fill one with confidence of success. But that relies on knowing the real end goal and that still seems up in the air.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-09-22T14:40:55.690Z

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.

Struggling to find something to say about the Microsoft news. It's all just so uniformly terrible. For the devs let go, for the devs who remain, for the fans of their games, for the health of the medium & industry alike. No good has or will come of any of this, and I loathe those responsible.

— Chris Franklin (@errant-signal.com) 2026-09-22T14:42:33.168Z