Microsoft layoffs are here and these three games have already been cancelled

Microsoft is moving forward with a lot of layoffs, a little less 4% or about 9,000 roles in the workforce Overall. As a result, multiple game The brewing within Xbox Game Studios has been cancelled, including some highly-prominent projects.

When contacted for comment, Microsoft directed CNET Reported by Variety on Wednesdaycheck their accuracy.

“To position the game for durable success, we will be able to focus on strategic growth areas, end or reduce work in certain areas of our business, and follow Microsoft’s lead to remove the management tier to increase agility and effectiveness.”

Xbox Game Studio Head Matte Booty I’ve confirmed the cancellation of the game Inside emails published by Variety, they specifically name Perfect Dark and Everwild, and name other “unpublished” titles.

“We have decided to stop developments for Perfect Dark and Everwild and close out some unannounced projects across our portfolio,” Booty wrote in an email. “As part of this, we are closing our initiative, one of our studios.”

Booty added that the decision to x these games “reflects broader efforts to adjust priorities, focus resources and set up teams for greater success within a changing industry environment. Each project and team did not underestimate these choices as they represent years of effort, imagination and commitment.”

Which Xbox games have been canceled?

Perhaps the most important title cancelled out of these new layoffs was the reboot of the classic FPS series, Perfect Dark. The studio, which was working on this new title, The Initiative, will be closed forever.

The much-anticipated new entry for the SCI-Fi spy series has been in work since the studio opened in 2018, and first showed off the title’s gameplay footage at the Xbox Game Showcase in June 2024.

Another notable title that wins another notable title is EverWild, the long-standing new IP of the revered British Studio Sea, acquired by Microsoft in 2002. For decades, the studio produced SNE’s original Donkey King Country Games.

According to the source without a name mentioned Video Game Chroniclea large number of job openings and a wider restructuring is rarely expected, resulting in game cancellations. Sources also reviewed reports on Everwild’s somewhat tumultuous development over the years, claiming that they “had a hard time identifying a clear direction for the title.”

The game was officially announced in 2019 and reportedly developed during much of the development of the decade, following the trailer in 2020. In 2021, we reported that the game’s development had been “rebooted”.

Other titles reportedly appeared on the pasture. Elder Scrolls OnlineIt reportedly has reached over 25 million players since its launch in 2014.

Details about what this title is sparse Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier Report The game was played under the codename “Blackbird” and has been in the works since 2018. Windows Central said in that Report About the Perfect Dark cancellation that Blackbird once intended to act as the successor to the Elder Scroll online.

CNET senior reporter David Lumb pointed out how these new developments from Microsoft highlighted the recent work instability in the gaming industry and the robust uncertainty that cancellations cause among gamers.

“The biggest losses are for seemingly thousands of people who are losing their jobs in a turbulent industry where record-breaking layoffs are seen every year.

According to variety shows All games shown during the 2025 Xbox Game Showcase It will continue to be developed in June.