Layoffs - Kotaku

CultureNews

Gears Of War Boss Dodges Question About Future Layoffs, Promises Next Game Will Come Sooner

Gears of War: E-Day is good, but will The Coalition get a chance to make more games before Xbox starts making cuts?

By Zack Zwiezen Published October 7, 2026

CultureNews

Star Wars Zero Company Studio Tries To Bring Back As Many Furloughed Devs ‘As Possible’ Following ‘Unexpected Business Developments Outside Of Our Control’

Bit Reactor says it will have more to share on the XCOM-like strategy game's future 'soon'

By Ethan Gach Published October 7, 2026

CultureNews

Supermassive Lays Off 70 People Less Than Six Months After Releasing Its New Sci-Fi Horror Game

Directive 8020 was met with mixed reviews on Steam

By Ethan Gach Published October 5, 2026

Satya Nadella sits with Asha Sharma in a meeting.

CultureNews

Microsoft CEO On Recent Xbox Layoffs: ‘There’s Some Amount Of Streamlining Asha Is Doing…Which Is Great To See’

Don't worry folks, everything is going great and according to plan

By Zack Zwiezen Published September 25, 2026

CultureNews

Xbox’s New ‘Mythic’ Achievement Features An Unlock Noise That Goes On For 15 Seconds

Mythic achievements will serve as Xbox's take on PlayStation's platinum trophies

By Zack Zwiezen Published September 23, 2026

CultureNews

Former Halo Devs React To Mass Layoffs And The Activision Takeover: ‘Absolutely Brutal To See That Studio Reduced To A Shell’

Bonnie Ross, Kiki Wolfkill, and Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto were among the many former Halo devs reacting to the news

By Zack Zwiezen Published September 23, 2026

CultureNews

Halo Developer Gets Promoted And Laid Off In The Same Week

Xbox laid off many devs at Halo Studios as the Halo franchise moves under Activision

By Zack Zwiezen Published September 22, 2026

CultureNews

Gears of War: E-Day Story Director Laid Off Just Four Days After Celebrating The Game Going Gold

The Gears dev had been at the Coalition since 2022 and was excited for people to play the game

By Zack Zwiezen Published September 22, 2026

CultureNews

‘Nearly Everyone’ Laid Off As Hyper Light Drifter Studio Risks Closing: ‘I’m Not Sure Yet How Or If Heart Machine Survives’

The team's recent projects didn't quite pan out

By Ethan Gach Published September 16, 2026

Mindseye Offical Artwork, Build A Rocket Boy

CultureNews

The Studio Behind MindsEye Is Closing Following Latest Round Of Layoffs

Multiple Build a Rocket Boy employees have stated that their time at the MindsEye maker has come to an end, and sources have confirmed to Kotaku that the company is winding down for good

By Lewis Parker Published September 16, 2026

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CultureNewsLegal News

Studio Behind The Best-Reviewed Star Wars Game In 22 Years Furloughed Up To 80 Percent Of Its Staff

The cofounders of Bit Reactor are embroiled in an ugly lawsuit

By Ethan Gach Published September 1, 2026

CultureNews

Bethesda Dev Says Cuts Were Rare Before Xbox Took Over: ‘All Of A Sudden We Have Yearly Layoffs’

Xbox developers are holding a rally across the United States and Canada to bring attention to the widespread layoffs

By Ash Parrish Published August 18, 2026

CultureNews

Id Software Dev Says Xbox Doesn’t ‘Understand Art’ And That After Layoffs It Is ‘Impossible’ To Make Big Games Like Doom: The Dark Ages

id Software vet Chris Hays says entire departments have been 'gutted'

By Zack Zwiezen Published August 7, 2026

CultureNews

Star Wars Eclipse Maker Accused Of Dragging Out Layoff Negotiations: ‘Quantic Dream Wants To Destroy Jobs, It Must Pay’

As layoff negotiations drag on, some workers are calling for a new strike

By Ethan Gach Published August 4, 2026

CultureNews

Xbox Pushes Forward With FanFest Celebration Even After Laying Off The Guy Who Created It

Xbox will unfortunately be 'celebrating 25 years of play' without the employee who created Xbox FanFest this year

By Lewis Parker Published August 4, 2026

CultureNews

Studio Behind Netflix’s Widely Panned World Cup Game Reportedly Shutting Down Just 8 Weeks After Launch

Refractor Games part-owner Delphi Interactive has reportedly shut the whole place down

By Zack Zwiezen Published August 3, 2026

CultureNews

[UPDATE] Game Devs Put Together An Itch.io Bundle Of Over 100 Games With Proceeds Going To Help Laid-Off Colleagues

The Game Industry Hardship Fund bundle contains over 100 games and will be on sale for the next two weeks

By Ash Parrish Published July 31, 2026

Key art from the Last Sentinel featuring an Asian woman looking up in the rain

Games

The Ambitious Open-World Cyberpunk Action Game Troy Baker Was Working On Gets Hit With Mass Layoff

After internal review, Lightspeed LA said Last Sentinel wasn't living up to expectations forcing a creative shift in development

By Ash Parrish Published July 29, 2026

CultureNews

New The Elder Scrolls Online Changes Blamed On ‘Team Bandwidth’ Following Xbox Cuts

Little changes point to the early impact of recent layoffs

By Ethan Gach Published July 24, 2026

Games

Gaming’s Contract Workers Are Being Devastated, Too: ‘Industry’s Cooked’

Major companies are eliminating more than just their full-time workforce, and developers are paying the price

By Rebekah Valentine Published July 22, 2026