June 2025 was an exciting month for the Xbox brand thanks to the excitement surrounding the annual Xbox Games Showcase, but not even a month later, enthusiasm for the brand was dealt a devastating blow. Microsoft laid off roughly 9,000 members of its workforce, shut down one of its Xbox game studios, and canceled projects that had been years in the making.
The fallout from the latest round of Microsoft layoffs has yet to be fully realized, but we've already seen some of its impact. The Initiative has been shut down, the Perfect Dark reboot and Everwild have been canceled, and once-lauded studios like Turn 10 have reportedly been diminished to a support role. What makes these layoffs especially shocking is just one month ago, amidst the buzz of the Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made a comment on social media that has now aged like milk.
Halo Studios Reportedly Hit by Microsoft Layoffs in Move Toward Contracted Studios
The latest round of sweeping Microsoft Layoffs reportedly hits Halo Studios amid a trend of relying more heavily on contracted developers.
Last month, to acknowledge the Xbox Games Showcase that aired in June 2025, Nadella said, "New games. New hardware. And new ways to play. As Xbox turns 25 next year, the future of gaming is just getting started." At the time, the comment was well-received. While this year's Xbox Games Showcase wasn't the most exciting that the company has ever hosted, there are those interested in the Xbox ROG Ally handheld and are happy that the company is working on its next-generation video game console. Others are excited about what 2026 has in store for Xbox, as the company is expected to deliver new installments in four of its biggest franchises. But in the wake of the Microsoft layoffs and game cancellations, fans are now starting to take issue with the tweet.
Microsoft CEO Xbox Comments Cause Backlash
The latest responses to the tweet indicate that Xbox fans are not happy at all with Microsoft's recent decisions. It's safe to say that the sentiment around the brand has quickly turned sour. Indeed, how can consumers have confidence in Xbox Game Pass delivering on its promises when day one games announced years ago, like Perfect Dark and Everwild, are canceled?
Nadella's optimistic comments about the future of Xbox are depressing when examined on the other side of the layoffs. But that doesn't mean that Xbox doesn't have some heavy hitters on the way. There are still plenty of high-profile Xbox games releasing later this year, and 2026 is expected to feature the Fable reboot, a new Forza game of some description, Gears of War: E-Day, and even a new Halo, rumored to be a remake of Combat Evolved. It's the future of Xbox beyond 2026 that fans are worried about, even with new hardware on the way.
- Brand
- Microsoft
- Original Release Date
- November 10, 2020
- Original MSRP (USD)
- $499
- Operating System
- Proprietary (Windows-based)
- Processor
- Custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 3.8 GHz
- Resolution
- 720p - 4K UHD