We are currently in the midst of ‘the most significant restructure in XBOX history,’ as CEO Asha Sharma put it. September 2026 has seen a continuation of the announced layoffs and significant internal restructuring of its developers, and we’re still not done.
Asha Sharma’s memo on July 6 was an honest and frank assessment of XBOX, where it is, and where she wants it to go. The proposed changes would mean devastating job losses for over 3,200 people, along with a corporate shake-up. September saw another wave of layoffs (part of the original 3,200), consolidation, and a reminder that more is yet to come.
XBOX Restructuring Will Continue
There was a lot to pick from Matt Booty’s memo on September 22:
- Layoffs impacted another 268 employees
- Rare was moved under Activision & Obsidian Entertainment moved to Bethesda
- XBOX was close to a Ninja Theory deal, which fell through
- Halo Studios has moved to Activision for its next Halo game
However, another detail we spotted amongst the statement was a simple line:
“The actions completed since July, inclusive of the studio divestitures, bring us roughly three-quarters of the way through previously announced restructuring.“
There are still more knock-on effects to come from July, be it even more layoffs, more game studios being moved around and potentially consolidated, or something else.
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It’s unclear when this could happen, but as XBOX has already revealed the layoffs will happen “throughout FY27,” it’s safe to assume nothing’s off the table at this point.
What do you make of XBOX’s statement? Share your thoughts in the official Insider Gaming Discord Server.
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Andy is Insider Gaming's Senior Evergreen Editor and has been in the games journalism sphere in one way or another for over 7 years. His video game taste is as…
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