Halo Moves to Activision & Obsidian Joins Bethesda in Xbox's Reset

Xbox announced that its "reset," announced in July, continues with restructuring changes, including major layoffs, moving Halo under Activision, bringing Obsidian under Bethesda, and more.

According to the announcement, the company will eliminate 268 positions across Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and the XGS management and central functions layer. Xbox also announced a reorganization intended to "strengthen franchises and games by operating fewer business units, aligning groups that already work closely together, and focusing [its] publishing expertise."

Halo will move to Activision and be led by a "purpose-built" team focused exclusively on the franchise and operating separately from Call of Duty's ongoing development and plans. A small team at Halo Studios will continue supporting the Halo community and games already on the market.

Bethesda will now include Obsidian, which will continue working on its current projects, including Grounded, as well as the new Fallout project being developed in collaboration with Bethesda Game Studios. King will take over Microsoft Casual Games, while Playground and Turn 10 will be combined into a single studio focused on the Forza and Fable franchises.

Apart from this, Compulsion, Double Fine, and Undead Labs have returned to independent management, with Undead Labs set to release State of Decay 3 day one on Game Pass with a new publisher. Meanwhile, deals involving Ninja Theory fell through, and Xbox will begin consulting employees about a possible closure, while discussions around Arkane are expected to continue through the end of the year.

Earlier in July, Xbox let go of 3,200 people, and four studios – Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, and Double Fine – were moved under new management.