Microsoft has made thousands of layoffs over the past few years, and it's not done cutting jobs yet. After implementing a voluntary buyout program earlier this year, the company is now offering it to a reported 60,000 employees. That number represents over a quarter of the company, a telling indicator of just how much human labor Microsoft is looking to cut as it continues to go all in on AI.

"This is a time-limited, voluntary program that gives those who are eligible the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources," the company says in a message to employees, which it also published online.

Official communication from Microsoft does not detail how many employees will be eligible for the voluntary exit offer, but CNBC reports that "around 60,000 people" will receive the offer, or around 27% of the company. Certainly, not every eligible employee will accept the deal, but the numbers remain staggering.

Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts earlier in the year to an estimated 9,000 employees, and recently reported that "more than 30% of eligible employees chose to participate" in the program. Assuming the reported estimates were accurate, that means that around 3,000 employees took the buyouts.

That's on top of the 6,000 laid off in May 2025, 9,000 laid off in July 2025, and 4,800 laid off in July 2026. Xbox has been hit particularly hard in these layoffs, with 1,600 jobs in Microsoft's gaming division eliminated as part of the 2026 cuts, and another 1,600 layoffs currently in progress. More of those cuts are expected to be announced between now and January.

Amid mass Xbox layoffs, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the "streamlining" is "great to see"

They don't make many games like Call of Duty anymore. Activision's yearly blockbuster has an obscene budget and you can feel the dollars that made Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 at work in every shootout, in every shuffle up and down a pipe, in every cutscene.

Firing guns feels incredible, movement is phenomenal. Traversal has had a big upgrade: it's not Omnimovement – getting around instead feels closer to that seen in 2022's Modern Warfare 2 but there's a level of responsiveness at all times, even when other shooters typically restrict. Often your character will do what you want, as soon as you tell them to do it, with plenty of control even when mantling or sliding.

Gunfights feel responsive, with weapons often being easy to handle, and the impact of every bullet that meets the mark feeling meaningful. Shoot an AI opponent in the leg and they'll fall over and crawl for cover, or roll onto their back and wait for death. Shoot a player and the now-familiar hit sound effects will pile on as you pile on the lead – the feedback helps to stay on target, and popping opponents is almost disturbingly satisfying.

You may not like the way every gun handles in Modern Warfare 4, but you will find a gun that works for you. These fluid and engaging gunfights are the basis of the entire game, a foundation that everything else layers on top. But this year, those layers are also sublime.

Taking to Task Force

The campaign starts with Wu-Tang Clan's C.R.E.A.M. is playing as you wander through the streets of Seoul. People are going about their day, the convenience stores are stocked, and the city feels alive. Then North Korean forces attack, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 gets down to business. There's a real sense of place even if in classic Call of Duty fashion it's still incongruous, letting you stroll around the convenience store swinging haymakers at the crisps as everyone chatters around you.

It's the start to a campaign that feels authentic in the way that few franchises really manage to pull off. Call of Duty is one of them, when it's on form, and I'm happy to report that Modern Warfare 4 is one of The Good Ones: it looks superb, moves at a relentless pace, and manages to bring years worth of Modern Warfare storytelling to a satisfying conclusion. When special forces soldiers are free to draw the line, who's to decide what's right or wrong?

It manages to do this while simultaneously cleaning the decks of most of the lingering threads from the disappointing Modern Warfare 3 (which we called "underwhelming" in our Modern Warfare 3 review). A lot of this is achieved by killing off a whole bunch of beloved characters, often brutally and without warning. Several times after a shocking death the camera lingers on dead characters to show you they're really dead and won't be returning in some of the post-launch content or a much maligned sequel Infinity Ward isn't responsible for.

Filling the void left by these deaths are a heap of new characters that I quickly gel with. Big bad Mads Mikkelsen is a lot of fun, but the standout is Lanny Joon as Ko who gives a stellar performance. Elsewhere, I squeak with delight when I recognize the voice of Luke Tennie from Apple TV's Shrinking. Most of these characters are lightly sketched out, but you're moving at such a quick pace you won't notice. Exposition is delivered breathlessly as you push from firefight to firefight, whispered in the quiet moments as you scurry around hoovering up ammo and armor plates from vanquished foes.

It's one of the most morally challenging Call of Duty campaigns in recent years, as the game pushes you gleefully to do things that don't fit with the usually narrow worldview of the series. One level has you playing as a North Korean soldier terrorizing a small village as you look for a dissident. How brutal you want to be is up to you but it's an unflinching level, let down slightly by the fact you're scuffling around the place looking for collectibles.

Price to see you

John Price, now on the run after assassinating General Shepherd in Modern Warfare 3, has grown a full beard instead of his ridiculous mustache and has to reckon with his own morality. There a few tough moments here: beating someone to death in an alleyway, facing off against "good guys" during fights through the Parisian streets, and even shooting-to-kill at former squad mates. After years of Price being the most recognizable good guy in the Call of Duty series, he's kind of a dick here, but trying to square that is part of the point.

Modern Warfare 4 has made me struggle with my own morality too, because I really wish it would relax its stance against civilian casualties. It's not a late heel turn for me, but the fact that innocents are in the middle of most of the gunfights and just clipping one results in an instant game over while enemies are unbothered has my ghillies in a twist. Have you ever tried to fire an assault rifle in fully automatic while hanging from the passenger seat of a speeding car without hitting civilians? I have, and it's pretty difficult.

These moments are rare frustrations in Modern Warfare 4's campaign, which is otherwise packed full of some of the series' most bombastic sequences to date. Several of the game's most impressive moments come early, with one highlight seeing you stalk a target through a club before you end up having to blast your way out.

Stranded, meanwhile, will be in 'best campaign mission' debates for years. The mission is an expansive playground that has you dropping in with nothing but a pistol and slowly gathering gear as you roll around the North Korean countryside exploring points of interest on foot and slowly gather yourself an arsenal, before attacking the objectives as you wish.

This is followed up by an amphibious assault on Seoul that feels like a full circle moment for Call of Duty, looking back to its D-Day origins. Call of Duty's campaigns have always been at their best when you're pushing against something impossibly well-defended, whether that's the beaches of Normandy or the cityscape of Seoul.

Unfortunately, the execution here is a little shaky and emblematic of some of Modern Warfare 4's biggest problems: if you stray too far from your commander, you're instantly killed with a tooltip popping up to tell you to follow your squad leader to exit the beach safely. It happens again and again, and after the freedom of Stranded, there's a disconnect when you're strapped back into the rollercoaster's straight line.

It's a shame, as, when Modern Warfare 4's missions hit, I'm reminded why the series' campaigns remain so important in a genre increasingly measured by online success and hours streamed.

It might still be junk food – even if this is a higher quality than limp-burger-like Black Ops 7 or Modern Warfare 3's attempts – but there are glimpses here of how Infinity Ward's modern approach to a military thriller can still push further. If only they'd let me off the leash a little.

Run DMZ

DMZ, Modern Warfare 4's headline addition, puts freedom front and center. Evolving on the mode first introduced in Call of Duty Warzone 2.0, this is a full-blooded extraction shooter taking place in Hajin City, a huge map that stretches between North and South Korea. Hajin City doesn't feel like a real place in the same way as Escape From Tarkov's miserable arenas, but it is expansive and well designed, with impressive verticality.

There are a few standout spots which seem to be tied into story missions that you can approach too. In one, me and my group pull off a daring heist at a casino, while a more frustrating mission sees us attempting to raid a robotics lab full of robocanines. Both missions have raid-like mechanics, and these more scripted experiences feel like they add something a bit different to the traditional extraction shooter experience.

Playing in this pseudo PVE-environment, DMZ could be one of my favorite multiplayer games released this year. You gear up, you drop into the map and prowl around shooting enemies and hoovering up loot until you either achieve the mission you came here to do, get scared and head for an extract, or get brutally murdered by another group of players or the AI.

Progress is rewarding. While your operators will level and be reset as you prestige, everything that gives you XP will also unlock new stations at your FOB – a safe area where you can recuperate between matches, spending currency and crafting recipes to make yourself more powerful.

The rewards are generous, and the end result is that DMZ feels less like an extraction shooter and more like a roguelike, which does take the sting out of getting ganked. Warzone's meteoric rise saw a point when casual players got pushed out in favor of more experienced players, so it remains to be seen how DMZ will evolve in future.

The nature of extraction shooters is such that not everyone will be pushed towards the same climatic conflicts, but the Call of Duty audience tends to favor an aggressive playstyle, and I'd expect this to filter down into DMZ.

Class warfare

Less revolutionary, but no less impressive, is the game's multiplayer. At this point, Call of Duty's multiplayer mode is iterative, more akin to FIFA (erm, I mean, EA Sports FC). This suits everyone fine. There's a new collection of weapons to unlock and upgrade, camouflage to earn and an unending supply daydreaming, clueless players to blast your way through in the name of hitting that prestige button as many times as possible.

Modern Warfare 4 is the best arena shooter on the market right now in terms of how smooth it feels and how engaging it is to play. The arsenal of (fictional, unlicensed) weapons offers up a horde of good choices for a variety of playstyles. I even like the maps this year. Transit 213 feels like one of the franchise's best already, taking the Shipment ideals but updating it for the modern day.

Sadly, the big negatives are largely the same. Killstreaks remain an anti-fun device that rewards players for kill streaks at the expense of the rest of the lobby. I will rally against killstreaks to my dying breath, and I'm not convinced it's even particularly fun for the person that's awarded them. The other thing is that the player base is… not particularly engaged. It's not hard to walk up on players that aren't listening at all, or to play on a team that has no concept of how to pick up objectives at their very feet. People should feel free to play however they want – and it's bound to get sweatier as players drop off – but I can't shake the sense some teammates and enemies alike are second screening Family Guy Funny Moments compilations.

The bigger additions to Modern Warfare 4's multiplayer are hit and miss: I like Inflation, a 6v6 mode where killed players drop cash and you have to scoop it up similar to the game's existing Kill Confirmed mode. The twist is that the amount of cash you drop is a percentage of what you're currently carrying, and the winners are the team holding the most cash when the round times out. This has the fascinating impact that the better players are holding more cash and thus are worth more when you kill them, and suddenly there's a frantic back and forth, a game that isn't over until it's very much over.

Other new modes are a mixed bag. Collateral seems determined to take over the Valorant / Counter-Strike 2 niche, doing away with standard weapon names and perks and offering purchases like "Power Pistol" or "Semi Auto Rifle" for a round-based attack and defend mode. It's confusing primarily because Call of Duty already has a round-based attack and defend mode, Search and Destroy.

Except, here, regenerating health is turned off and in its place there's the overarching economy. This is one of the headline additions to Modern Warfare 4 and I can't help but feel like it's a naked attempt to bring the gameplay of Counter-Strike to console players.

Frontline, meanwhile, is like Team Deathmatch with fixed respawns, which is a miserable exercise in repeating the same kill corridors over and over. Ground War Outpost is equally annoying, with a flood of people shooting you from every treeline, sandbag, or tower. You can't escape combat, but the furious sound of being in a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 firefight is so intense that you can't really relax into it in the same way as you can in something like Battlefield 6 or Wardogs.

But it doesn't matter. The multiplayer is phenomenal, and if the campaign is junk food, this is closer to an all-you-can-eat buffet inviting you to snack on what works for you and steer clear of the bits that don't. I have a sneaking feeling that I am getting too old for Call of Duty, a feeling Modern Warfare 4 has reinforced. But even if I'm not as fast at the game's multiplayer as I used to be. Even if some of the additions seem meaningless, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is, surprisingly, one of the best games this year, and it's phenomenal fun. Isn't that supposed to be the whole point?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 was reviewed on PC, with a code provided by the publisher.

Answer the call by checking out our best Call of Duty games and best FPS games rankings for more to play next!

Batman and Good Will Hunting actor Ben Affleck says that his early years of fame were defined by staying at home and playing an unfathomable amount of Starcraft.

Speaking to Josh Horowitz on Happy Sad Confused, Affleck is asked what his favorite video game of all time is, more specifically "what sucked the most life out of you." And while Affleck dubs it a hard question, he responds: "There was a game called Starcraft that probably took the most life out of me for a period of time." He recalls, "I had just got famous and all I did was stay home for 3 years and play Starcraft."

As for more modern titles, Affleck shouts out Riot Games' Valorant, but "the problem with that game" is that he gets "fucking rocked" by 11-year-olds. "It's very humiliating," he adds.

While on the subject of being beaten at games by children, Affleck notes, "I get to play 2K with my son and lose, which is so humiliating," before adding that the 14-year-old "just beats you and then just mocks me and derides me."

On top of that, Affleck shares his love for titles like Madden, Civilization, and classic FPS games. He recalls that "we played" Doom "endlessly" during the making of Good Will Hunting ("we" in this case presumably being himself and Matt Damon, co-writer and star of the film), with Affleck saying, "I remember writing and taking these long breaks to play Doom. I can't believe it's been out that long."

Affleck also praises Myst, calling it a "fabulous game" partly for its storytelling; he says, "there's an opportunity for somebody to do something like that again."

Blizzard's new StarCraft shooter is "not a seasonal game," says lead: "The story has a beginning, a middle, and an end."

As Xbox continues to struggle, CEO Asha Sharma has reportedly stated her desire to keep making "enduring new IP" rather than solely relying on the past, as the company "will not survive" if it does.

Xbox is still in the midst of ongoing restructuring, with it announced in early July that 3,200 people were set to be laid off by the end of the financial year, and multiple Xbox-owned studios have been impacted in other ways. Compulsion Games, Undead Labs, and Double Fine have gone independent, while two agreements for Ninja Theory have fallen through, and consultation is still underway at Arkane. Sharma admitted in July that the current Xbox is not "healthy," and even looking from the outside, it's not hard to see that.

Per transcripts shared with Windows Central, in a recent company town hall meeting, Sharma reportedly acknowledged the large amount of changes being made to Xbox's content. "We're backing our strongest franchises. I want our great games to become great global billion-dollar franchises," she is quoted as saying.

However, she apparently notes that the company can't just rely on old favorites. "I would also like to see us continue to create enduring new IP," she continues, adding that "we will not survive" if we only lean on the past. "We have to find new ways, and courage, to have invention on new IP, that reaches new sets of audiences," she adds.

While there's definitely truth to what she's saying, it's hard not to find the sentiment somewhat odd when it follows multiple game cancellations at Xbox. Last year, for example, a gorgeous new game from Rare, Everwild, was shelved along with Project Blackbird, a new MMO project that was in development at Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios. More recently, Ninja Theory's Project Mara – an experimental horror project – was also scrapped.

One thing that's sure to be in the company's favor, however, is that it's now not only publishing Hideo Kojima's upcoming horror game, OD, but his Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor Physint, too. Sony was set to cancel the latter, prompting Kojima to seek another publisher in the form of the PlayStation maker's biggest rival.

Hideo Kojima says Xbox had "never seen" anything like Physint, which is impressive considering it was the only publisher that didn't think his OD pitch was "crazy."

After the seven year wait between Gears 5 and Gears of War: E-Day, The Coalition studio head Mike Crump says we won't be waiting quite as long for what's next.

Gears of War: E-Day is finally out after being announced back in June 2024, and by extension has ended the series longest hiatus. Gears 5 was released all the way back in 2019, following a three year wait between it and Gears 4 – which in turn only took three years to release after the launch of Gears of War Judgement. In fact, the entire original trilogy released within a five-year span, meaning the wait between 5 and E-Day has been pretty significant for fans.

Speaking to the BBC, Crump promises that E-Day will set a "great foundation" for the future of the series, and that "the next game will not take nearly as long." However, reports out of the studio ahead of launch were that of fear that Microsoft would be laying off staff members following the release of the game and as part of the company's planned 3,200 job cuts by the end of the fiscal year (with the game's story director being laid off just before launch).

Crump acknowledges this, saying: "What I say to myself, what I say to the team, is we just [sic] we need to focus on the things that we can control." He adds, "For us that's about shipping a great game that people are going to love and I feel like, as a team, we've done that."

Gears 5 pretty famously ended with a massive cliffhanger, so naturally fans have been waiting to see the resolution of that, and still are given that E-Day is a prequel to the entire series. But thankfully, it sounds like it won't be seven years away.

Gears of War E-Day review: "Brings Gears back to the cutting edge of shooters."

Laura Fryer, one of the first developers to join Microsoft Game Studios back in 1995, says she "watched the birth" of Halo Studios – formerly 343 Industries – while working on Gears of War 2, dubbing it "a ghost town."

According to Fryer, who now regularly uploads videos about the video game industry on her YouTube channel, the Halo team was "next door" to her own – and after witnessing how it supposedly came to be, she says she's "not surprised" by Halo Studios' recent layoffs.

You know, the ones stemming from Microsoft's plans to cut 3,200 employees at Xbox, with a whopping 268 employees laid off earlier this month, many of whom were working at Halo Studios.

The very same which saw Activision take control of the franchise with a promise to deliver "the greatest Halo game ever," in fact.

Former 343 Industries art director Glenn Israel doesn't exactly agree with Fryer's recollection, however, commenting as much on her video. "I'll reiterate that while Laura's intro is a cool story, it isn't accurate," he writes, explaining that he's not looking to "glaze" Halo Studios, which "was rife with systemic issues."

It wasn't, however, rife with "laziness," as he points out. "343 Industries didn't start staffing up as a development studio until late 2009 (Gears 2, incidentally, shipped late 2008 in the west and mid 2009 elsewhere – the actual work executed in NC not WA)," Israel continues, already leaving some holes in Fryer's own tale.

He explains that when he joined in 2010 "straight from Bungie," there was no Gears of War team "next door."

The Halo developers were "already hard at work in a maximum-security off-campus satellite called Willows," and "you couldn't badge into the studio space if you weren't on the team" – which, yeah, would imply that Fryer's memory here isn't exactly accurate.

Israel concludes that the video is "deeply disappointing" as "there are more than enough legitimate grievances to farm engagement from in this pot; we don't need new fictions from the kettle."

It's tough to discern what is reality and what isn't, I suppose, but Israel's words hit hard here – especially considering the circumstances. Fryer has yet to respond to the former art lead's reply, but since she's commented on others' posts, she just might.

Veteran Halo lead has suggestions for how Activision could actually make "the greatest Halo game ever," and they include hiring "Bungie, Halo Studios, and other laid-off folks"

As Blizzard continues to flesh its PC storefront Battle.net out with the likes of The Witcher 3, Xbox CEO and executive vice president Asha Sharma doubles down on what the World of Warcraft studio has said before – it's not trying to create another Steam.

Yes, Blizzard partnered with CD Projekt Red to see The Witcher 3 make its way onto its own storefront – but that doesn't mean Battle.net will continue to accept just any game willy-nilly, or that it's a one-to-one Steam competitor.

Andrew Guerrero, Blizzard's vice president of product management and global insight, confirmed as much last month, saying the company isn't "trying to do the Steam or Epic Games Store thing."

He said Blizzard already has its "audience," a "passionate core of people that play Blizzard games and games similar to Blizzard," assuring that they'd only "get after" titles for Battle.net should they make sense for that core.

Sharma is now saying the same herself, telling Xbox in an internal town hall (as per Windows Central) that Battle.net will grow, and is actually nearly retaining as many users as Steam already – but it'll never be Steam.

She hints that it'll instead be a more selective, curated storefront than platforms like Steam or even Microsoft's Xbox PC. Sharma also teases that the partnership bringing with CD Projekt Red bringing games like The Witcher 3 to Battle.net will grow, too, although carefully.

In her words, "We will do it the right way for those communities." So, there's clearly a sense of executives taking utmost care with the whole situation.

As it stands now, Battle.net really isn't anything like Steam, anyway. It's primarily a home for Blizzard's own lineup of games, from World of Warcraft to Diablo 4 and the like.

Sure, there are other partner titles, like Call of Duty entries and Xbox Game Studios gems such as Avowed and Sea of Thieves, but it truly is a more particular store than its competitors.

How will that work out in the long run? Well, I suppose only time will tell.

Xbox Helix is seemingly pulling a Steam Deck, CEO discusses devices for players "on the go" with "a great console first"

Hideo Kojima says that even though we haven't really heard much about his upcoming horror game, OD, that doesn't mean that he isn't working on it.

Speaking on a new episode of his radio show Koji10, Kojima notes that the first in the duo of upcoming Hideo Kojima games, OD, is "still a mystery." However, he says that despite the lack of updates since it was first announced back in 2023, "this doesn't mean we haven't made the game. I want to keep quiet and release it."

Kojima acknowledges that a lack of promotion is "unusual for me," adding, "I normally put out teaser after teaser. This time I don't want to reveal much."

Later in the show, Kojima reiterates that the Screen Actors Guild strikes lasted about a year and thus had an effect on the development of the game, but that "we've been shooting since June and will continue through the end of the year," with automated dialogue replacement (dubbing) work carrying over into 2027.

Kojima says "the shoot is going well" and that "we're developing the game while we shoot." However, from the sounds of things, development didn't pause entirely for the SAG strike, as Kojima explains, "we'd been using stand-ins until now. For the temporary version." He adds that the stand in performances are "a lot of work" to replace.

Kojima also speaks about Udo Kier who was set to star in the game, who passed away at the age of 81 last year, saying he "had really looked forward to the project." He doesn't mention whether the work he did do for the game will be retained, but notes that he participated in a "three-day scan" with co-star Hunter Schafer.

Hideo Kojima says Xbox had "never seen" anything like Physint, which is impressive considering it was the only publisher that didn't think his OD pitch was "crazy."

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden says Xbox's current issues have mostly been down to the publisher's inability to pick a lane and stay in it.

Whether you're an Xbox diehard or not, there's no denying that Microsoft has been pretty confusing over the last few years, with the company seemingly changing its strategy on a whim constantly – which really hasn't helped it catch up on PlayStation's massive lead. Most prominently has been the company's approach to game exclusivity since it purchased Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, where for a bit there every Xbox game was also coming to PS5, and then sometime this year it decided, 'actually, no we're doing exclusives again'… at least for some games.

Speaking to The Expansion Pass (below), Layden – the former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment America – notes, "I think Microsoft never really picked a lane. Or if they picked a lane, they didn't stay in it very long." He notes the aforementioned flip flopping between being a publisher on all platforms vs wanting to be an exclusive platform, saying, "a platform needs exclusives or the platform has no meaning," but "if you're the biggest publisher in the world, you almost have to be on every platform, because that's how the business model works. You can't be successful at both."

There's also the Xbox Game Pass issue, wherein Microsoft is inherently devaluing its big titles by offering them as part of a subscription service on day one. Layden says, "If you're going to do that, then are you expecting people are going to buy content if they can get it on a subscription service".

He notes "the math doesn't" work with trying to be everything at once with Game Pass, adding, "if you're sitting on a big bunch of Microsoft money perhaps you don't feel that tension until, you know, slowly slowly slowly and then all at once where it becomes very hard to ignore. And I think they've got themselves in a pickle, to be honest."

Layden says new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma "is doing her best to try to right the ship", adding, "I hope she does it. Though I don't know what that looks like."

PlayStation creator says games have stagnated, urges developers not to lose their "curiosity" as the industry reaches a major turning point ahead of the "next stage."

PlayStation and Xbox are both pulling back from multiplatform releases and reemphasizing exclusive games. At the same time, Sony recently dropped Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear successor, Physint, leaving Microsoft to pick up the project. The console warriors might be drawing battle lines, but Xbox CEO Asha Sharma says the publisher's collaborations with PlayStation will continue.

Xbox still has several ongoing projects with PlayStation. Forza Horizon 6 and Fable are both set to come to PS5, and franchises like Call of Duty and Minecraft remain multiplatform affairs. As Sharma tells the New York Times: "Competition and collaboration can coexist."

According to the NYT write-up, Sharma "laughed" at the idea of apologizing to Sony for the whole kerfuffle over Physint which, hey, fair enough. The outlet additionally reports that Xbox's agreement with Kojima was "substantially below" development costs for a AAA game, and includes film and TV rights for the project.

Rumors have been floating around that Kojima was seeking something in the neighborhood of $400 million for Physint, but a new edition of The Game Business suggests that "Xbox is paying far, far less than that number," potentially less than $200 million.

For years, Xbox had been pursuing a multiplatform strategy that ultimately culminated in several major first-party games receiving ports to PS5. That strategy was one of many things that turned around when Sharma took over Xbox leadership from Phil Spencer, but there are still plenty of games under the Xbox banner which are still set to come to PS5.

For its part, PlayStation never embraced multiplatform the way Xbox (briefly) did, though a certain few games – like Bungie's Marathon – were released on the competing console. But Sony's big experiment was on PC, which is a platform it's now pulling back from. Competition and collaboration can, indeed, coexist, but it continues to feel like both concepts are a little one-sided in the modern console war.

Here are the PS5 exclusives and Xbox exclusives you need to know about.

As Gears of War: E-Day launched, developer The Coalition was thinned by more Xbox layoffs. It's a heartbreaking circumstance by any metric, but the timing feels crueler since rolling credits on E-Day's campaign and seeing the extent of their triumph – an ode to big-screen action that restores Gears to the cutting edge of third-person shooters.

Too often, AAA shooter campaigns can feel like bolt-on afterthoughts in a multiplayer-oriented genre. But E-Day builds an entire city in excruciating detail, only to tear it down brick-by-brick around you.

Good kid, bad city

Kalona is an industrial city, with Gothic streets criss-crossing between dockyards and military forts. Headlines splashed across billboards celebrate the end of a war fought against the Union of Independent Republics (UIR). Kalona's gothic grandeur has been untouched by the war – I'm reminded of New York City's celebrations post-World War 2, which in pictures seems far removed from mainland Europe's devastation.

The conflict casts a long shadow over returning Gears protagonists Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Brought closer by the death of Dom's brother and Fenix's squaddie Carlos Santiago, who died fighting the UIR, the pair are ditching a military ceremony to get drunk when the titular Emergence Day begins. The earth cracks open and hordes of subterranean humanoids – some scuttling on all-fours, others geared with guns and armor – spill onto the surface and kill indiscriminately. The horror is awfully believable: civilians are slaughtered as they run while fire and sinkholes lay waste to Kalona itself; leaving Fenix and Santiago to link up with a back-footed defense alongside fellow Gears Carter and Reyes.

With E-Day's campaign set entirely within Kalona, The Coalition shows its destruction in unflinching detail. Hammering home that this is happening as we play, E-Day rarely cuts away from Fenix – who leads Bravo Squad from one fire to the next – and instead uses returning locales to ground Kalona's downfall. One setpiece, Legacy Bridge, is used several times – but with the campaign's full-throttle pacing makes it feel like lifetimes have passed between each visit, to say nothing of the city falling apart around it. I'm reminded of Halo 3: ODST's excellent single-setting, which made you ache for New Mombasa through reminders of the world that was.

The bleak tone is surprisingly complementary for Gears' larger-than-life action, personalities, and load-bearing use of the word "fucker". But even the latter is additive to E-Day's story. In the moments we spend with Fenix, Bravo Squad, and other survivors; the bravado is stripped back to explore grief, trauma, and humanity. And going so long without discussing shootouts (in a Gears of War game!) speaks to the strength of E-Day's setting. But this is an action game first and foremost – not that any reminder is needed.

Reloaded

Gears of War: E-Day is the best cover shooter I've played since the series' Xbox 360-era heyday. Where 2024's excellent Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 thrived by pushing its scale and melee combat, E-Day reaches new heights for cover shooters in a more literal sense – turning encounters into scrappy, fluid gunfights. An adaptive cover system means nearly anything can be used, not just ol' reliables like car bonnets and concrete corners, and on plenty of occasions I'm saved by Fenix's willingness to dive behind shin-high rubble and shoot whilst lying on his back. Cover being more naturalized does wonders for Kalona – the absence of traditionally signposted cover makes it feel like a city, not a level.

Surviving is tricky, even on normal difficulty. The Locust are smart foes and know how to press an advantage. Twitchy crawlers rush at your position even as well-armed Drones dig in and fire from cover, the latter preferring to shoot and flank rather than charge forwards. Unique enemies reveal themselves across the campaign, and are deployed rarely enough that they are always an 'oh shit' moment – be it acid-spitting toad-creatures or, to coin an in-game description, "floating ballsacks" that rain fire from above.

In your corner, precision and brute force are equally viable. For most of the game I opt to play at mid-range where possible, using bolt-action rifles to carefully pick off targets. But limited ammo means you'll often fight with whatever gun you can scavenge, and after one such fight in an overrun train station, I grew attached to the Gnasher shotgun – its buckshot initially feels lackluster, but when you're close enough to fire without first aiming, it's devastating.

There were several times when E-Day sold me on a gun I had initially written off. Weapon and armor mods, found in hardcases across the city, are deliciously impactful. My favorite switches the Gnasher to slug rounds, allowing it to capably pop Drone heads from several meters, and my Longshot sniper rifle was unrecognizable by the end of the game, having swapped its long-range scope for an over-the-shoulder reticle in tandem with a mod that reloads its chamber with every headshot.

The result is so much variety that I struggle to draw the line under examples – it would be sacrilege, surely, to not praise the acid-spitting Incinerator shotgun, or the return of the Lancer assault rifle. The Lancer is Gears' most famous weapon, thanks to the iconic chainsaw blade fixed beneath the barrel like a bayonet. But, I find melee disappointing in E-Day – a little too soft and weightless in comparison to trading desperate gunfire from cover.

It took me 16 hours to finish E-Day's five-act campaign. That includes most of its side objectives – not to chase down collectibles, but because I wanted the extra shootouts they promised. I rolled credits days ago, and feel the same melancholy that finishing a good book can leave me with – in this case, a testament to those engrossing few days in Kalona.

I'm a little less enthused by E-Day's multiplayer, which is a mixed bag. Versus – PvP modes ranging from team deathmatch to objective-based scraps – is too uneven to feel truly competitive. Expect to be matched with level 50+ players while you're still level one, resulting in too many one-sided stomps in quickplay. I can live with that in isolation, but more damning is how poorly E-Day's cover-based pacing survives contact against other players.

The emphasis on positioning that fuels the campaign's scrappy shootouts is gone, as players (including myself) careen around the map with one-shot-kill Gnasher shotguns – which is fun in its own way, but better-suited as a Quake-style LAN party game than something to be taken too seriously. Especially as guns and loadouts are locked behind a leveling system, so you can't just mash together your preferred kit and lean into the chaos.

Much better is Gears' Horde Siege mode, which drops three teams of four players into Kalona to fight the Locust on several fronts. Each squad has their own primary objective, but with optional side objectives encouraging detours, you'll often wander into someone else's war. It's an excellent dynamic: I've been on the cusp of being overrun during an objective defense, only for friendlies to crest the horizon, Lancers blazing, to save the day. It's even better when the shoe is on the other foot, and I've barreled through Locusts and over rubble to revive someone outside of my squad. A hero? Me? You're too kind (and correct).

The world feels harder nowadays, and layoffs at The Coalition are just one facet of that. I often look to games to meet me in the moment, but equally important are those with the power to take us away. Gears of War: E-Day does this sublimely, its campaign contrasting quiet vulnerability and cataclysmic setpieces so dramatically that it would be comical if not so well done. Versus mode isn't for me, but I continue to dip into Horde Siege on evenings and I'm already planning to run through the campaign on a harder difficulty with friends. E-Day is a very good time, and it's easy to underestimate how powerful that can be.

We reviewed Gears of War: E-Day on PC, with a Steam code provided by the publisher.

Gear up for your next adventure! We've rounded up the best shooters to play in 2026.

It's no secret that Microsoft's plans to cut 3,200 employees at Xbox are still in action, having just affected a whopping 268 employees earlier this month, many of whom were working at Halo Studios – the team largely responsible for the Halo franchise.

At the time, chief content officer Matt Booty said the role eliminations were focused "across Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and the XGS management and central functions layer." As for the future of Halo, Activision took control of the franchise from Halo Studios with a promise to deliver "the greatest Halo game ever."

So, how exactly will it do that? Perhaps by looking to those who were laid off for ideas?

Frank O'Connor, industry veteran with nearly 20 years of work on Halo as both a writer and franchise creative director under his belt, certainly believes that the company should.

He shares as much under a new LinkedIn post on the matter, commenting on which paths he thinks that Activision could take to make a successful Halo entry – but "none of these are easy, guaranteed, or necessarily viable," as O'Connor writes.

The first path? "Make a 'classic' Halo movement/sandbox/shooter experience tailored to a core audience and scaled to be successful with that core audience and attractive to a broader one so it can grow." He adds the obvious fact that multiplayer "is better with more people playing, by mathematical default" – which, yeah.

And, the second? Well, that one moves away from what the Halo franchise is already known for for something "new."

O'Connor's second suggestion reads as follows: "Make something new, modern that reinvents the game/universe in a surprising but fantastic way. An action/sandbox game (maybe it's a new take on the FPS, maybe it's an action RPG but it's fundamentally different) and succeeds with a combination of strong story, IP use and gets a small head start based on curiosity or loyalty."

I suppose I could see it – but it's certainly riskier.

The Halo veteran's third potential path for Activision involves "translating" the IP into its new parent company's "comfort zone," with "player, progression, and business models that are proven to work" and "a big annual or semi-annual spectacle and constant content."

He does warn against tying it to hardware launch cycles and abandoning Halo's sandbox elements – and suggests hiring laid-off devs.

"Hire Bungie, Halo Studios, and other laid-off folk who are bursting with talent and ideas that got nerfed or shut down over the years," as O'Connor's comment concludes – and boy, would that be a nice idea if I thought for a moment that Activision would consider it.

Am I hopeful that it will? Of course, but the industry is shaky at best right now, and it's been a while since we've heard good news akin to O'Connor's suggestion here.

A girl can dream, I suppose – and I'll keep my fingers crossed that executives hear our (and O'Connor's, apparently) prayers and deliver a solid Halo entry… perhaps even "the greatest Halo game ever," as per Activision's own words.

Halo cinematic director "promoted and laid off in the same week" as Microsoft continues sweeping Xbox layoffs

There's still no mining. Or crafting. But the Dungeon aspect? Well, that's going great guns. Bigger, better, yet impressively streamlined for younger players to get started, Minecraft Dungeons 2 is one of the best-made loot-based dungeon crawlers you can buy. If you're looking for classic video gamey fun, you've come to the right place.

You're thrust straight into the story in which three Illagers have opened up a portal to the Sift – an all-new dimension in the Minecraft universe. This new dimension enables the game to feature some genuinely new scenery (even if it does look a bit cellophaney, like 1960s Star Trek). It also brings time-limited, global modifiers called 'Sift Tides'. These bring harder mobs, decreased cooldown timers, or cessation of passive soul generation, affecting your magic, though it still feels the same to actually play. There are new enemies too, which is a good thing because the Overworld's mobs look way too familiar if you've played the original.

Hitting the arcade

The other genuinely new thing is the ability to jump. What do you mean, I'm scraping the barrel already? It does make a difference, allowing for some basic 3D platforming (thankfully with forgiving collision detection) and, accordingly, fun new jump attacks. Some modifiers even turn these into special moves, scorching the land ahead of you with fire, for example. It also means you can jump over some projectiles during boss fights, which makes everything feel more arcadey. It's a good thing; this is giving old school video game vibes and I love that.

The movement is super-solid with only a precious few instances of slowdown on Xbox Series X when you're at a Storm Tower, making the game feel like Minecraft Dungeons Arcade – all chunky and super-assured. It's also noticeably easier to see what's happening compared to the first game, making for clearer gameplay decisions. The action can still become overwhelming when you find yourself in the middle of a mob, but that just makes it all the more satisfying to use firebomb magic or a soul explosion to knock back a score of enemies.

Co-op can be played locally, online, or a mixture of both, but characters created as 'offline' cannot go online and vice versa. It's plausible for two players with a large disparity in character level to enjoy a game together. The game splits currency 50/50 and loot is dropped for specific players, so a newbie can't pick up a Level 100 pickaxe – they'll have to wait for their own, low level drop instead. A more experienced player may have to revive the less-experienced player more often, but it works really well. Co-op is a lot of fun as you shout to each other to heal up, or NOT EAT THE FOOD UNTIL WE NEED IT. OK?!

That said, there is so much loot on offer, you'll soon spend almost as much time in the menus equipping new weapons and armor (which now has chest, legs, and head separation for extra depth) as you will playing. You can easily spend a few minutes buying, upgrading, and enchanting (and now non-destructively disenchanting) a full set of weapons, armor, artifacts and talismans only to blast through a dungeon and have 70% of it to do again 15 minutes later.

There is a new quick inventory feature allowing players to change their gear without using the whole screen, but you'll likely take turns to do it full screen anyway because sharing the experience of equipping great gear is such a big part of the fun.

The main story rattles along nicely and is a little longer than the first game's campaign, clocking it at around 10 hours. But even though it gets a bit samey after 5 hours or so, I still wish the story lasted longer. Further side quests continue some plot lines and keep things focused, but it never quite feels as convincing once you hit endgame.

Weathering the soul storms

The biggest endgame feature is the appearance of Soul Storms, which occur in random locations and are time-limited. In these storms, you get harder mobs to beat, along with three storm towers which are real damage sponges. These are best tackled in co-op, though you can take them on solo too. Things do get a lot harder at this point, especially when prior bosses spawn in the middle of the maelstrom, and the forthcoming DLC promises even greater tests of your skills.

But with greater difficulty comes increased frustration, and you may start to lose interest if completionism or maxing out your character doesn't appeal to you. Combat also changes from pleasantly skill-centric early on to keeping your health above zero while you alternate magic attacks.

There are a few bugs and rough edges that surprised me. I got stuck in the scenery by jumping where I wasn't supposed to, forcing me to fast travel to escape, and I had far too many instances of keys disappearing and characters vanishing when they were supposed to be following me. Quitting the game and reloading always fixed the issue, respawning everything, but if you don't realize it's bugged out, you can spend quite a while wondering what you're doing wrong.

Despite its few irritations, Minecraft Dungeons 2 is a classic example of 'how the first game should have been done'. It's impressively balanced, and rewards experimentation and careful enchantments, while still feeling like a Minecraft game. There's depth there for those who seek it, but younger siblings will have just as much fun spamming the attack button and screaming when Enderman randomly shows up.

Minecraft Dungeons 2 isn't quite as clever or flashy as, say, LEGO Horizon Adventures (which is very similar to play and likely cheaper too at this point), and Diablo fans are likely to stick with Diablo 4. But there's honest fun here for any type of gamer, which is quite the achievement.

Minecraft Dungeons 2 was reviewed on Xbox Series X, with code provided by the publisher.

No need to mine for games if you want more like this. Our games like Diablo and games like Minecraft recommendation lists have plenty for you to enjoy!

Xbox apparently isn't paying close to $400 million for Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear spiritual successor Physint after all, despite recent rumors to the contrary.

In news I don't think anyone – including Kojima himself – saw coming, Xbox is now publishing Physint instead of PlayStation after Sony decided it wanted to cancel the game entirely. The game's future is now apparently safe, despite ongoing restructuring at Xbox, but the question of why Sony wanted to drop it at all remains.

One report from Bloomberg claimed that, amongst other things, Physint was set to go "well over budget," though Kojima Productions released a statement noting that "none of the claims written came from any official or on-the-record source and as such we encourage you to take them with a dose of scepticism." Even so, whispers about Physint's budget have continued, with The Game Business editor-in-chief Christopher Dring reporting last week that a budget around $400 million is the figure being suggested the most at bars around Tokyo.

That's a lot of money, but it sounds like the rumor mill may have exaggerated things slightly. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, despite being "hesitant to get into exact numbers without seeing documentation or corroborating them with multiple firsthand sources," suggests in a ResetEra post that Xbox isn't paying that much. "Someone at Xbox with firsthand knowledge of the deal told me that they signed Physint for significantly less than this," he writes.

Windows Central's Jez Corden has shared a similar claim, alleging that sources with direct knowledge of the contracts in question told him that the number is significantly smaller than $400 million. Dring himself has also stated on Twitter since the publication of his original report that "I've since been told Xbox is paying 'quite a bit less' than that."

What the game's actual budget is, then, isn't clear. It's rare to see a cheaply made AAA game these days, and you can imagine that's especially true for a title with lots of Hollywood talent attached to it. In Physint's case, John Wick 4 star Bill Skarsgård has been cast as the protagonist, and Charlee Fraser, Don Lee, and Minami Hamabe are part of the project, too. Needless to say, I doubt it's going to be particularly kind to Xbox's wallet, even if it's not as massive an ask as $400 million.

Hideo Kojima says Xbox had "never seen" anything like Physint, which is impressive considering it was the only publisher that didn't think his OD pitch was "crazy."

A games industry analyst says that Xbox is being acquired in reverse after the publisher announced that it is placing some of its studios under Bethesda and Activision.

Microsoft announced last week that the next wave of redundancies, as part of the planned 3,200 jobs cuts across Xbox throughout FY27, would not only result in the loss of 268 jobs – with the likes of Halo Studios and The Coalition affected – but also mark a major reshuffle for Xbox Game Studios. Notably, Playground Games and Turn 10 have been merged, Bethesda Game Studios is now managing Obsidian Entertainment, while Rare, World's Edge, and the Halo franchise have been moved under Activision Blizzard.

Joost van Dreunen, a professor at the NYU Stern School of Business and games industry analyst, posts on Substack about the changes, describing it as a "reverse acquisition of Xbox." Van Dreunen says "folding Halo, one of Xbox's prized IPs, into Activision, the firm it acquired in 2023, is surprising at best. At worst, it's evidence of how poorly Xbox was running its studios."

"Bringing Halo under Activision, even with a dedicated team, is a logical step. But it doesn't guarantee success," Ven Dreunen notes, citing that Call of Duty's biggest launch with Black Ops 6 saw a sharp drop-off of players by the time spring rolled around. He adds that we're now watching "a reverse acquisition in slow motion, where the publisher Microsoft paid $69 billion for [what] turns out to be the division best equipped to run the studios Microsoft built itself."

Van Dreunen likens Xbox's recent acquisitions to Disney's 2006 purchase of Pixar, in which senior Pixar members were put in charge of Disney's then-struggling in-house animation studio while Pixar was in the midst of a generational run. He adds, "It's becoming evident that Microsoft's acquisitions were less about the IP and more about the managerial talent."

Microsoft has had annual rounds of layoffs since acquiring Activision Blizzard King in late 2023, and we're now reaching the point where – through rampant studio closures and a number of studios now falling under the remit of Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and King – Xbox Game Studios is down to a handful of studios.

Post-Xbox, Double Fine boss Tim Schafer is baffled by the terrible state of the game industry: "People are making money, so I don't know why there's a big loss of jobs"

Things aren't great over at Xbox right now. Microsoft's games wing is undergoing substantial re-structuring right now, with ongoing layoffs planned to the tune of 3,200 jobs. As a result, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's recent trip to Japan has drawn some ire from the former boss of a studio within the corporation.

Sharma visited Kojima Productions in Tokyo, both to check out the company and spend some time with Hideo Kojima himself. Photos of her time there were posted on the back of the announcement that one of the team's games, Physint, is now being published by Microsoft after it was dropped by Sony.

It's certainly a bit eyebrow-raising given the state of the neon green system right now, and a tenured developer has taken some time to say so.

"Super funny that Asha Sharma said 'Clarity is kindness' to the WSJ last week then did a half layoff today," Shannon Loftis, ex-studio head of Age of Empires developer World's Edge, writes in a Threads post. "I guess Damocles' Sword is a form of clarity, what do I know?"

She's referring to this profile of Sharma from the Wall Street Journal, covering the Xbox head's philosophy towards handling redundancies and internal turmoil. Sharma lives by "clarity is kindness," delivering anything bad straight and to-the-point. There's something to not beating around the bush, I suppose, though it's probably hard to see any niceties when you're being told your job's at risk.

The axe of Xbox's recalibration reportedly fell on World's Edge this week, as details of layoffs have been dripping out through social media. Loftis, who left the outfit in 2022, also made a post on LinkedIn commiserating with her former colleagues, saying she's "crushed" by the news. "I do not know of everyone that has been impacted by today's news, but I can guarantee these people know how to ship games and make gamers happy," she said.

You can feel her frustration in her Threads post. "Please, Asha, publish more 'cool' photos from your Japan Kojima-maxxing trip," Loftis adds. "That's the kind of leadership game developers need."

Ooft. I can easily imagine the devs that have been let go or found their roles and teams significantly changed over the last few months balking at Sharma's heavily publicized time with Kojima. Watching leadership write a check after all sorts of redundancies is serious whiplash.

But then, Sharma's job isn't to make friends, it's to dig Xbox out of the hole it's currently in. Getting a Kojima project hasn't hurt in scoring headlines. Only time will tell whether it moves the needle for Microsoft more substantially.

Xbox is "very happy with GTA 6 pre-orders," exec says, claims sales match "our share of the console market."

Following years of games industry woes and multiple waves of layoffs out of Microsoft, Tim Schafer – founder of the formerly Xbox-owned studio Double Fine – says he doesn't understand the economics of the industry anymore.

The most recent of Microsoft's now yearly layoffs will see 3,200 Xbox employees lose their roles before the end of the 2027 fiscal year. Alongside this, Double Fine, Compulsion Games, and Undead Labs went independent from the publisher, Ninja Theory is now at risk of closing after multiple purchase attempts fell through, and Arkane's fate is up in the air. While Double Fine has had to lay off staff following this change, the studio is taking to Kickstarter to fund its next "small" game, with Tim Schafer saying "no one puts Double Fine out of business except for me."

Speaking to BBC News (below), Schafer says that in this modern day, "I don't understand the economics of making games to be honest." He explains, "for years [I] thought I understood them because there are layoffs, which is bad. And then the people who make games realize, 'Oh, we need people to make games,'" which in turn resulted in developers being hired back.

However, now in an era where the industry is in the midst of a major struggle, Schafer says it's no longer a cycle of ups and downs: "It's been down for like four years and I don't know why." He adds, "people are playing games and people are making money, so I don't know why there's a big loss of jobs. I just assume it's like, someone is being greedy somewhere," saying, "I hope it is a cycle, and I hope it bounces back."

However, Schafer doesn't see it as the end, adding, "I think there's a lot of life and excitement and creativity in the games industry now; especially in the indie space," although he isn't "one of those snobs" who says AAA games can't be creative.

Schafer notes, "it's been a much more violent place to work in AAA," explaining, "your work is often not as rewarded, because you will get laid off as soon as you finish your game," Which, unfortunately we see pretty often as of late, with games like Star Wars Zero Company and Gears Of War: E-Day staff being laid off following the game going gold. Not to mention Battlefield 6 was so successful that EA CEO Andrew Wilson got a massive bonus, shortly after the developers who actually made the game were laid off by the company.

Storied RPG studio Obsidian is now a part of Bethesda. That news came alongside Xbox's latest round of layoffs and reshuffling, and it's not entirely clear what it means for the studio's future. Apparently, it'll be little more than "a change in reporting structure" – according to a leaked memo from Bethesda president Jill Braff, anyway.

"The creative identity and strengths that make Obsidian distinct will remain at the core of their studio and work," Braff says in an email to employees, obtained by Aftermath. "[CEO] Feargus [Urquhart] and the Obsidian leadership team will continue to lead Obsidian, with the studio reporting to me. Bethesda Game Studios will continue to lead the Fallout franchise."

Earlier this year, Bethesda and Obsidian announced that they were collaborating on a new Fallout game, 16 years after the two studios worked together on the beloved Fallout: New Vegas. That project became official shortly after behind-the-scenes reporting suggested that Microsoft had swooped in to kill Obsidian's Avowed sequel and put the devs to work on Fallout.

"Together, the teams will build on their longstanding relationship and the early work already underway on a new Fallout project, with more to share in the months ahead," Braff says in the leaked message. "This structure supports the franchise-led model we've been strengthening while keeping accountability for both the studio and the franchise clear."

For much of the past decade, Obsidian has put its resources into developing original IP, including The Outer Worlds, Grounded, and Pentiment, as well as a fresh take on its Pillars of Eternity series in Avowed.

While I love New Vegas as much as anyone, and a new Fallout game is long overdue, I have a hard time restraining my cynicism over Obsidian's future. The studio was clearly passionate about its own, internal IP, and this talk of "franchise-led" development feels all too familiar. We have, after all, spent years watching studios like Ubisoft and Activision slowly turn their vast rosters of internal studios into little more than support houses for big franchises like Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty.

Baldur's Gate 3 publishing lead Michael "Cromwelp" Douse shares those concerns about Obsidian. "I can't imagine what it must feel like to have independent agency and then, suddenly enough, find yourself working *under* a competitor," he writes. "I can't imagine that feels great." Especially with reports of 25% of the studio being laid off as part of the transition.

Another Fallout RPG was in development at Obsidian Entertainment before Bethesda pulled the plug "a while ago," ex-studio lead says.

The massive Xbox "reset," as the brand's leadership calls it, continues. Yesterday, the company announced another 268 jobs eliminated along its quest to lay off 3,200 employees throughout the fiscal year. We also learned that several Xbox studios and franchises were coming under the Activision Blizzard banner, including Age of Empires developer World's Edge.

Studio creative director Adam Isgreen says there have been substantial layoffs at World's Edge alongside that transition. "I am of course disappointed that this is the way the time with World's Edge and Age ends for myself and many of my talented teammates that were also impacted – we had some great plans for what's next – and I hope the team that remains can rise to the occasion down the line," Isgreen says in a LinkedIn post (thanks, Rock Paper Shotgun).

In a separate post on ResetEra, Isgreen adds that "just under half the studio was let go." We have reached out to Microsoft for comment and will update this story if we learn more.

Isgreen's roots in the RTS genre go back decades. He was a designer on the first Command & Conquer: Red Alert, working at Westwood Studios from 1995 through 2003. He worked on the beloved Star Wars: Empire at War at Westwood successor Petroglyph, and eventually joined Microsoft in 2010.

He served as creative director on a number of projects at Xbox, including such varied projects as Killer Instinct, Crimson Dragon, D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die, and ReCore. Eventually, he helped lead the company's Age of Empire revival, again working as creative director on a massive pile of remasters and 2021's Age of Empires 4.

"I never thought that I'd work at Microsoft, let alone spend a significant amount of my career here – 16 years! – especially in a creative-first role," Isgreen notes in his LinkedIn post.

"What's next?" he asks. "No idea. Maybe games? Maybe not? Pinball machines? Always loved the combination of design + art + engineering they represent."

These are the best RTS games you can play today.

The Xbox PC app has seemingly unveiled Mythic Achievements, the Xbox equivalent of a PlayStation Platinum Trophy.

Earlier this year, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed that Xbox would be getting its own version of the PlayStation Platinum Trophy for Xbox's Achievement system. For those unaware, on PlayStation, when you unlock all of the Trophies for a game, you're then given a Platinum trophy as a stamp of "I've done everything," whereas over on Xbox you simply have the 1,000 Gamerscore to show off. But Sharma mentioned a bit over a month ago that the "team is working on something for later this year."

And now it looks like the update is imminent. Last week, a user uncovered a filter namedropping a Mythic Achievement, and now the Xbox PC app has been updated with the reveal of the Mythic Achievement symbol and sound effect.

A source speaking to TrueAchievements has reported some more details about how the new achievement will work. Notably, Mythics will apparently be awarded upon completing the base game – with DLC achievements not included in the completion – and they will be worth 0 Gamerscore. Mythic Achievements will reportedly also be retroactively applied to any games a user has already completed.

The source reports that the system is set to launch soon, and with updates appearing on the Xbox console and PC app that certainly seems to be the case. It's unclear whether this will be part of the Xbox Insider Program first or just launch for everyone, but we'll likely find out in the coming weeks.

Hideo Kojima doesn't know if Physint will release on PlayStation after Xbox picked up publishing duties, and hasn't "decided" if he'll use the Sony-owned Decima engine, either.

Microsoft has laid off the story director of Gears of War: E-Day days after he confirmed that the game has gone gold.

Xbox announced its latest wave of redundancies that continue the planned 3,200 jobs cut throughout FY27 confirmed earlier this year. Xbox confirmed 268 job losses yesterday, including at Halo Studios, whose franchise has been moved to Activision, and unfortunately, there are more job losses across Xbox studios not outlined by Microsoft.

Juan Vaca, story director at The Coalition, posted on his LinkedIn account that he is among those losing their job as part of the latest wave of Microsoft layoffs. Vaca acted as the story director on Gears of War: E-Day, which is set to release in less than two weeks.

In a sad turn of events, this post came just five days after a previous post from Vaca, celebrating that "Gears of War: E-day has gone gold" and that he's "excited for the world to see what the whole team's been cooking."

According to a Kotaku source, a small number of people were cut from The Coalition, with reasons not related to the wider Xbox restructuring. Gears of War: E-Day is set to release on October 6, 2026, so just why Xbox is laying off prominent members of staff this close to launch is unknown.

Microsoft is still planning to cut over 1,000 jobs before the end of the fiscal year, with discussions over Dishonored maker Arkane's potential buyout still ongoing, while discussions over the closure of Ninja Theory are set to begin after two potential buyers fell through for the studio. This follows what have been yearly batches of layoffs since Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard in 2023.

By the time StarCraft launches in 2030, it will have been nearly 15 years since developer Blizzard released a new game in the long-running science fiction series – so it deserves a big welcome rather than a small splash as an Xbox exclusive. Thankfully, Blizzard just confirmed it won't be.

Before Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in a historic 2023 deal, StarCraft was mostly a computer man's game, anyway. From the first StarCraft in 1998, to the franchise's most recent installment, StarCraft: Remastered in 2017, games in the series mostly rocketed between Windows and Mac OS. There was that one, short trip to planet Nintendo with StarCraft 64 in 2000, but StarCraft is historically loyal to the noble mouse and keyboard. This seemingly won't change now that Blizzard's under Xbox's jurisdiction, though the publisher refuses to give precise details as to what platforms StarCraft will appear on.

Instead, a Blizzard spokesperson simply told Kotaku in a new report that they "can only say for now that StarCraft won't be exclusive." After being pressed on the issue, Blizzard continues to say that referring to the shooter as an "Xbox-exclusive" would be incorrect.

While this is potentially great news for historic StarCraft computer gamers, it might disappoint Xbox fans – if there are any left. Some people seem to have convinced themselves that StarCraft will not only be exclusive, but also limited to the upcoming, next-gen console Xbox Project Helix. But this outcome was always unlikely.

Xbox has a fair-weather friendship with exclusivity. After its Activision Blizzard merger, games were flying all over the place – Call of Duty left PlayStation to appear on all consoles, and things that should have been Xbox blockbusters like Starfield ended up on PlayStation, too... and they weren't blockbusters.

But Xbox recovered. It started showing off its renewed interest in exclusivity this summer. At the time, chief strategy officer Matthew Ball told GamesRadar+, CEO "Asha [Sharma] believes that to build a platform, you must have exclusive services and software – in this case, games. And so to return our platform to consistent growth, we need a reliable pipeline of exclusive games."

Strangely, this exclusive games "pipeline" apparently does not include StarCraft, despite the franchise's huge popularity. But only Blizzard knows why.

Blizzard's new StarCraft shooter is "not a seasonal game," says lead: "The story has a beginning, a middle, and an end,"

Halo Studios lived a short, utilitarian life – Microsoft used it to create the perfectly serviceable Halo: Campaign Evolved remake, and now the studio is effectively retired after 268 layoffs impacting it and other first-party Xbox developers. But it never had the opportunity to be anything more interesting.

Thus is the plight of Western gaming. Big corporations keep being impatient for results, so they move straight to relentless "restructuring." That's what's happened here – Halo: Campaign Evolved was a fine remake, but it was not good enough to compete with the Call of Duties absorbing the modern FPS player's time.

So we can only mourn Halo Studios' recently summoned potential. Formerly known as 343 Industries, Halo Studios had been the guardian of Halo games for 20 years; Xbox established it in 2007, after Halo creator and former Microsoft baby Bungie went independent. Xbox then rebranded 343 as Halo Studios in 2024, saying in a press release at the time that the developer had new energy to produce more Halo "without distraction, without impediment, to create better games with players' hopes and wishes at the heart of the endeavor." … It didn't last long.

Following September 22's 268 layoffs, made in service of 3,200 total gory cuts to Xbox, Microsoft also shared that it was passing along the Halo franchise to Call of Duty publisher Activision. About the layoffs, Xbox writes in an announcement on its website, "We are reorganizing our studios. The goal is to strengthen our franchises and games by operating fewer business units, aligning groups that already work closely together, and focusing our publishing expertise."

Basically, it's going to let the behemoth that regularly ships billion-dollar Call of Duties handle Halo instead. Activision president Rob Kostich says the publisher wants to "make the greatest Halo game ever, worthy of its universe and legacy, while staying true to what made players love it in the first place. It is a bold ambition, one that this franchise deserves. We have already begun assembling a purpose-built team, unique in capability and talent, ready and excited to deliver this next chapter with the community."

While Xbox disclaims in its press release that "a small team at Halo Studios will continue supporting the Halo community and games in-market," it seems like, for the most part, Activision is scraping off the old paint and starting again.

This is starting to sound like an old story – studio releases game, studio immediately undergoes mass layoffs no matter how much money it made, and whatever major corporation that owns it isn't concerned with the layers of grime coating its reputation. Just this year, this sad story has applied to Battlefield 6 developers, Destiny 2 developers, Directive 8020 devs, Tomb Raider devs, and many more in an especially difficult year.

ASGC Games Industry Layoffs Tracker creator Amir Satvat, who recently spoke to Edge for a feature now available to read in the Knowledge newsletter, says, "I think this is as bad as the '83 crash if you're a game developer based in North America or western Europe, in a traditional triple-A studio."

Notice that Satvat calls out Western developers in particular. The Japanese games industry has been triple-fortified from the storm of 2026 layoffs because, "They didn't get swept up in the live-service trend, or into these mega-blockbusters with 500-person teams," Satvat says. It probably helps, too, that they don't pay their executives $38,649,984 like EA did for CEO Andrew Wilson despite all those Battlefield 6 layoffs.

Laid-off id Software producer Andrew Willis shared a similar observation about Japan's brawny games industry in a recent interview with Kiwi Talkz, saying about Nintendo, "They're feeding the tree fertilizer and water. Trimming, you know, where necessary, and just making sure that it will healthily produce fruit forever."

"Our folks here," Willis continues, "in the more Western game executive side, they're just cutting it down. They want it now. And then they look around and they're like, 'Why aren't there any apples?'" It's almost as ridiculous as introducing Halo Studios and then firing everyone before they could make the next Halo.

Activision was playing the long game – the Call of Duty dev lost a bidding war to acquire Rare over 20 years ago, and now it's overseeing the studio.

Xbox's new reshuffle has seen Rare moved under Activision, 24 years after Xbox outbid the publisher for the studio.

Rare has mostly been seen as one of the biggest drop offs in games. While the studio's Sea of Thieves is seemingly super successful, it was one of the powerhouse developers of the 1990s only to flounder throughout the 2000s and 2010s; the big shift being when Rare was purchased by Microsoft.

While the studio did release some great games during this era like the Viva Pinata duology and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (which I get why people don't like a new genre slapped onto an existing franchise), it never reached the highs of its SNES and N64 output.

And with Xbox's latest wave of redundancies that continue the planned 3,200 jobs cut throughout FY27, Microsoft has announced that Rare will be moved under Activision as part of this reshuffling. But as pointed out by co-founder of The Game Business, Chris Dring, this could've been a reality for the studio back in 2002.

Dring notes that when Nintendo declined to buy the remaining 51% of the studio a bidding war for the developer started that was eventually won by Xbox, with the studio being purchased in September 2002 for $375 million. However, other than Xbox and Nintendo (who Microsoft's Ed Fries claims was part of the bidding war after declining to purchase the studio), the other major interested party was none other than Activision.

And now, just over 24 years later, Activision is the home of Rare. Of course, it's a very different company now than it was back in 2002, with the studio focusing on its successful live service title Sea of Thieves. But it does mean the PS1 and N64's biggest platforming icons (outside of Mario, obviously) are now all under the Activision banner as Banjo joins Crash and Spyro.

The Rare SNES game that became Banjo-Kazooie has been preserved thanks to a leaker who wants you to "delete Microsoft and Sony from your lives."

Xbox has announced a major reorganization of its entire first-party studio ecosystem. Rare and World's Edge will now operate under Activision Blizzard. The Call of Duty publisher is also taking stewardship of the Halo franchise.

This is a significant shift, with Rare and World's Edge having previously operated under the Xbox Game Studios banner. This means that Activision Blizzard will assist Rare in steering the evolution of Sea of Thieves, and take command of the Age of Empires franchise moving forward.

The decision to move Halo to Activision is also something of a surprise. 343 Industries has overseen the Halo franchise ever since Bungie regained its independence from Microsoft in 2007, having shipped Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, and Halo Infinite. The team was rebranded to Halo Studios in 2024 as it sought to push the franchise in a new direction – the recently released Halo: Campaign Evolved serving as an example for how the series would function on Unreal Engine.

Activision president Rob Kostich said this of the change:

"We're thrilled to welcome Halo, Rare, and World's Edge to Activision. It's an honor and a responsibility that we do not take lightly. These teams and their games have inspired fans around the world for decades."

"For Halo, our goal is clear: make the greatest Halo game ever, worthy of its universe and legacy, while staying true to what made players love it in the first place. It is a bold ambition, one that this franchise deserves. We have already begun assembling a purpose-built team, unique in capability and talent, ready and excited to deliver this next chapter with the community."

"To the World's Edge and Rare teams, we can't wait to get to work together."

The 2026 remake of Combat Evolved is expected to be the only new title released by Halo Studios, with the group now operating in a support capacity for existing Halo games. The studio is expected to endure a substantial reduction in headcount as a result of the franchise control moving to Activision.

While Xbox is yet to make any further announcements regarding the next mainline Halo installment, a new team – rather than one of the studios responsible for keeping Call of Duty on its annual release cadence – will be put into place to steer its development. Matt Booty, Xbox's chief content officer, has said in a statement that Activision's Halo will be "led by a new, purpose-built team that is separate from ongoing development and plans for Call of Duty."

In addition to these changes at Activision Blizzard, Xbox has also announced that Bethesda will begin managing Obsidian Entertainment (the two studios are already developing a new Fallout title), and that Playground Games (Forza Horizon) and Turn 10 (Forza Motorsport) will "come together as one studio" to help define the future of Forza, Fable, and the ForzaTech engine which powers both open-world games.

These big changes in the way that Xbox operates come as part of the broader Xbox Reset that CEO Asha Sharma and chief content officer Matt Booty announced earlier this year. Touted by Sharma as "the most significant restructure in Xbox history", the reset has already led to over 1,600 redundancies and a divestiture with Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Undead Labs as the group attempts to "return to growth" and streamline its content portfolio.

As a part of today's news, Xbox announced a further 268 redundancies across the business. It also confirmed that Arkane (Marvel's Blade) will remain in consultancy throughout the rest of the year, and that Ninja Theory (Senua) is facing the prospect of closure after two potential deals to secure its future fell through.

For more on Xbox, check out the full list of upcoming Xbox Series X games.

Xbox has announced a new wave of redundancies, with 268 staff set to exit the business. In a statement on the Xbox Wire, chief content officer Matt Booty says the role eliminations are focused "across Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and the XGS management and central functions layer."

This all follows the 1,600 role eliminations that were made in July, after Xbox CEO Asha Sharma instituted "the most significant restructure in Xbox history."

The decision to 'Reset Xbox' is expected to ultimately cost up to 3,200 jobs throughout FY27, and this announcement only builds to that number. The reason for the restructure is multi-faceted, although Sharma has said that change is necessary for the company to return to growth and profitability.

As part of the restructure, a number of first-party studios have already exited the Xbox Game Studios ecosystem. Xbox separated from Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions earlier this year, with the developers of South of Midnight and Psychonauts 2 regaining their independence eight years after they were originally acquired.

Undead Labs and Ninja Theory were undergoing similar considerations. Xbox has announced that Undead Labs "has now successfully transitioned on similar terms," and has located a new publisher for State of Decay 3. Unfortunately, the news isn't as positive for the Hellblade creator. Booty says "two separate agreements for Ninja Theory fell through. We will now begin consultation with employees on a proposed closure while continuing to explore other paths forward." It's unclear what all of this means for the future of Senua, which is slated to release in 2027.

As part of the Xbox Reset memorandum in July, Xbox had announced that Arkane's future was also uncertain and that, in accordance with French law, the studio's management was required to consult with its "Works Council to review potential strategic options." Xbox says that "consultation with Arkane remains underway and is expected to continue through the end of the year." There are no updates of what this means for its Marvel's Blade project.

This latest round of layoffs means that Xbox is around three-quarters of the way through its total planned redundancies, and comes on a day where the company has announced a fairly significant restructure. Obsidian Entertainment is now being managed by Bethesda, with the pair now collaborating on a new Fallout title.

Activision Blizzard King is also expanding its remit; the Call of Duty publisher will now have operational control of Rare and World's Edge (including the Sea of Thieves and Age of Empires franchises), and will establish a new team to lead production of the next mainline installment to the Halo series.

Hideo Kojima says that Xbox was very enthusiastic about his pitch for Physint, calling it something the publisher had never seen before.

The new action espionage game from Kojima Productions has had a busy week, with the news of PlayStation unexpectedly dropping the project before it was picked up by Xbox. This was soon followed by the news that John Wick 4 and Nosferatu actor Bill Skarsgård will be taking on the role of the game's lead. There were also reports that Sony canceled the game because it was missing deadlines and set to go "well over budget", which Kojima Productions took to Twitter to call "unsubstantiated speculation."

Speaking to IGN, Kojima explains how Physint's move to Xbox came to be. Kojima explains that when looking for a publisher, "it's not just the money we needed. We also needed technical support, marketing support, holding playtests and things like that." He recalls, "I approached Xbox and they were great. They could support us technically. And also we've been working on OD with them, so we already had a connection."

While the core of Physint – a Kojima led action espionage game in the vein of Metal Gear Solid – was a pretty easy pitch, there's still a lot we don't know about the game itself, with Kojima describing it as a "project that will redefine 'action-espionage', unbound by any existing genres in digital entertainment." Kojima explains, "I made a proper pitch of Physint to them. And then their first reaction was like, 'This pitch was fantastic. Never seen a pitch like this!' And that's how it started with Xbox."

Microsoft is clearly open to his ideas, as Kojima previously said his pitch for OD sounded "crazy" to every publisher except Xbox. On top of that, new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma called OD "deeply moving," with her being in the CEO role during the time Kojima was pitching Physint to new publishers.

Hideo Kojima doesn't know if Physint will release on PlayStation after Xbox picked up publishing duties, and hasn't "decided" if he'll use the Sony-owned Decima engine, either.

Hideo Kojima says that Physint hasn't decided on its game engine yet, and he doesn't know if it'll still release on PlayStation following its move to Xbox.

Xbox Game Studios is now working with Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions on its Metal Gear spiritual successor, Physint, following Sony's decision to cancel the project. Reports had stated that the cancellation happened due to budget and timeline concerns, but Kojima Productions has since refuted these claims. However, both of Kojima Productions' released titles – Death Stranding and its sequel – have been PlayStation titles, and used the Sony-owned Decima engine which was created by Horizon developer Guerilla Games.

Speaking to IGN in a new interview, Kojima is asked if the move from PlayStation to Xbox has forced the studio to swap development of Physint to a new engine (with the implication that it was once also likely to use Decima with it previously being a PlayStation Studios game). However, Kojima simply does not confirm if the game had even been in the works with that engine, saying, "I haven't really decided yet. I'm still experimenting."

Xbox has been releasing its titles on PS5 for a few years now, however, the appointment of Asha Sharma as CEO this year marked a change, as she was keen for a return to Xbox exclusives, with Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution set to remain exclusives for the platform. Others like Fable and Forza Horizon 6 still have PS5 releases planned.

Kojima is asked whether Physint would still release on PlayStation under Xbox publishing, but he wasn't able to speak definitively on the topic. "I don't know the answer to that – that would be a question for Xbox." Kojima says, adding, "In previous updates from Xbox, I thought that they have this kind of stance where they want to deliver to as many gamers as possible, no matter what the platform is."

It wouldn't be surprising if Xbox wanted to keep Physint to itself, given that it taking over publishing duties on the game in the wake of Sony's cancellation is one of the easiest wins the rival has had in recent years. Plus, even Kojima thinks "this is the biggest selling title I could possibly create."

OD is "progressing smoothly," Hideo Kojima says, teasing it as a "completely new kind of game that tests the thresholds of fear."

Kojima Productions has released a statement responding to reports that Sony dropped its upcoming action game Physint due to missed deadlines and budget concerns.

Following the news that the upcoming Hideo Kojima game Physint has been picked up by Xbox as its publisher after Sony decided it was canceling the title, reports emerged to attempt to shed some light on Sony abandoning what should be an easy win. Bloomberg reported that Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor was missing deadlines and set to go "well over budget," on top of that, there was reportedly friction over Kojima Productions wanting to release Physint on PC, like it had with the Death Stranding games.

Following the publication of multiple interviews with Hideo Kojima – in which the director recalled how he found out about the cancelation of the studio's title by PlayStation – the Kojima Productions Twitter account released a statement addressing these rumors. "Normally, we would not comment on unsubstantiated speculation on the internet," the post reads, adding that the reports "have reached beyond the studio and have touched our fans, our creative partners, and colleagues we have worked alongside with for three decades."

Kojima Productions says, "None of the claims written came from any official or on-the-record source and as such we encourage you to take them with a dose of scepticism." It adds that, "While we recognise that the article may have caused alarm, we want to reassure you all, for the record: that the studio is in a healthy, profitable state, development for Physint continues to move forward with Xbox, and our relationship with PlayStation remains strong."

Jason Schreier, who wrote the original Bloomberg report, responds to the statement on Bluesky, saying "it doesn't dispute any of our reporting so I don't have much to add there." He adds that – contrary to Kojima's comment that it was a surprise, that "the Physint cancellation came after several months of negotiations between KoPro and Sony. Wasn't exactly out of nowhere."

Schreier also says that his report was "based on conversations I had with multiple people across Sony, Xbox, and Kojima Productions."

OD is "progressing smoothly," Hideo Kojima says, teasing it as a "completely new kind of game that tests the thresholds of fear."

Fable game director Ralph Fulton says the team behind the reboot of the classic RPG series was built with fans of the original games.

Rebooting a franchise that has been pretty much dead since 2010 is going to be a daunting challenge for anyone. But for Playground Games, not only are the developers rebooting Fable, a franchise that it did not originally develop, but on top of that, it's the studio's first foray outside of racing games, and it's a game that's garnered over six years of anticipation since it was first announced (without rumors starting even earlier). However, the studio's approach to Fable sounds like it's one of reverence for the original trilogy.

Speaking to the Future Games Show, Fulton explains, "I'll tell you, every single member – and I can say this without qualification – every single member of the team is first and foremost a Fable fan." He says that "many of them, if not to say most of them, have traveled from all over the world to our little town in the middle of Warwickshire in England. And the reason they did that; it wasn't to work for Playground Games."

Instead, he says, "Each and every one of them came here because they're a Fable fan. They love the series, they want to bring it back." He adds that on everyone's first day at the studio, something that they "had in common with everyone else was that they were here to make a great Fable game, and I think that you can feel that from the game that they've made."

The team being fans of Fable certainly helps explain comments from Fulton that the team is confident they have stuck the landing of the upcoming RPG's ending, because they'll know better than anyone how much Fable 2's ending stunk. So here's hoping that experience is put to good use in tackling some of the franchise's biggest issues.

Amid relentless layoffs at Xbox, Fable lead says "so many people" at the company see the RPG as "vital to the DNA of the platform," which "protected us over a long development cycle."

The latest Physint poster may have given us our first bit of plot details about Hideo Kojima's upcoming Metal Gear spiritual successor.

While Bill Skarsgard's casting was the main draw of Kojima's Physint update at the latest Xbox Tokyo Game Show, there's more than initially meets the eye. We also got some artwork consisting of a photo Kojima took of the duo, with a tagline that reads: "The next Cold War begins."

Based on that tagline, we can assume that Physint is about espionage in a time when nuclear war could break out at a moment's notice, while the world powers are engaged in a giant game of chicken. To me, that sure is a Metal Gear Solid game right there. Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, Peace Walker, and The Phantom Pain all took place during the Cold War, with it being a major plot point in the first two.

Given that Snake Eater is considered one of the best Metal Gear games, it's not a surprise that Kojima would return to a formula that works. However, "the next Cold War" seems to imply that the game will be set closer to modern day than the actual conflict.

Another interesting detail about the marketing for Physint is Kojima's unofficial theme song for it – "Here Comes the Feeling" by Asia – which he has attached to Instagram posts about the game and is also on the original poster.

Having had the song on rotation since last week's PlayStation debacle, I've found the lyrics have definitely struck me. Many see Death Stranding's themes as a metaphor for Kojima coming to terms with the loss of Metal Gear; however, the Asia song focuses on reunion. "All through the winter, I thought I'd never see you again" is how it kicks off, while the chorus consists of "Here comes the feeling. Here comes the same old feeling," which certainly feels like a 'we are so back' declaration from Kojima.

OD is "progressing smoothly," Hideo Kojima says, teasing it as a "completely new kind of game that tests the thresholds of fear"

Hideo Kojima has revealed that John Wick 4 and Nosferatu actor Bill Skarsgård will be the lead in his upcoming Metal Gear spiritual successor Physint.

Appearing at the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2026 Broadcast, Hideo Kojima gives development updates on both of his upcoming titles for Xbox Game Studios. OD is "steadily taking shape" as performance capture continued this year following the SAG-AFTRA strike. As for Physint – which only last week it was announced Xbox acquired after Sony decided it wanted to cancel the game – Kojima says "the project continues to make steady progress."

Kojima calls Physint "the culmination of more than 40 years of my career: a project that will redefine 'action espionage,' unbound by any existing genres in digital entertainment." Kojima claims he realized he should make a game like Metal Gear Solid while he was sick during the Covid-19 pandemic.

While we already knew Charlee Fraser, Don Lee (also known as Ma Dong-seok) and Minami Hamabe had been cast in the game, Kojima reveals that the game's lead character will be portrayed by Skarsgård. Kojima explains, "we are both long-time fans of each others' work, and we've decided to embark on this new adventure together."

Kojima also acknowledges the game's new home, saying, "I would also like to thank our partners at Xbox for believing in our vision and walking this path toward the future alongside us." He adds, "We are incredibly excited about the road ahead and look forward to sharing much more with you in the future."

Given Kojima said last year Physint is "another five or six years" away, and things likely slowed down a bit while the game was without a publisher, we've probably still got a while to go before we get our hands on it, or even see gameplay for that matter.

Hideo Kojima says his pitch for OD sounded "crazy" to every publisher except Xbox.

Hideo Kojima says development on his mysterious horror game OD is "progressing smoothly," and he can't wait to tell us more about it.

During an Xbox broadcast at this year's Tokyo Game Show, Kojima provides some quick updates on OD and Physint, which are now both being published by Xbox Game Studios.

On OD, he says: "Performance capture and ADR recording, which had been paused during the SAG strike, resumed this year, and production is proceeding on schedule. Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and the team have delivered intense and outstanding performances, which I can't wait for you all to see.

"OD is a completely new kind of game that tests the thresholds of fear," he continues. "Through constant experimentation and iteration, the project is steadily taking shape. We look forward to sharing more information later down the line."

There's still plenty we don't know about OD – its release window, for a start, is still a complete mystery. Kojima previously said that he'd like to "scan a ghost" into the game, which could take time. Then again, he also suggests that there could have been a ghost accidentally recorded into it already, so he might have ticked that box without even knowing it for sure. Don't worry, though – "that's why we went to the shrine together with Microsoft to make sure that we have a safe build of the game," he said at the time. That's reassuring… I think.

At Tokyo Game Show, Kojima also revealed that John Wick 4 and Nosferatu actor Bill Skarsgård will be Physint's lead actor, with him and the star both being "long-time fans of each others' work."

Physint goes from PlayStation to Xbox as Sony "unexpectedly" drops Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor.

An Xbox rep has reportedly addressed rumors that it will remove day-one releases from Game Pass, but hasn't denied them either.

Earlier this week, a rumor posted by ResetEra moderator Slayven reported that Microsoft is set to change Xbox Game Pass next year. They report that there will be a tier with ads costing $12.99 a month, while the tier without ads will run players $19.99 a month. This is a $3 discount; however, it will reportedly be at the expense of a few things. Notably, they report that starting sometime between February and April, the day-one releases won't be included, and that cloud streaming will be removed from the service, which will cost $5.99 for 25 hours.

This was an unsourced rumor posted by the moderator, and thus was absolutely worth taking with a major grain of salt. However, Forbes' Paul Tassi reached out to Xbox about this rumor, and posted their reported response in a Tweet.

The statement reads: "We regularly test different Game Pass offerings and look at what works best for players in different markets. We don’t have any changes to announce today or plans that have been finalized. There are no changes to previously announced games coming to Game Pass Ultimate on day one."

A pretty standard statement, but the final line is fairly eye-catching; specifically calling out "previously announced games" seems to imply that bets are still off for future releases. So something like Fable, which is already being advertised as a game you can "play day one on Game Pass," will be safe, but perhaps the recently acquired Physint will not be a part of this.

Frankly, as convenient as it is for players, day-one releases on Game Pass have never felt sustainable, as Xbox has conditioned players to think their games have the value of a monthly subscription. However, once that band-aid is ripped off, I'm not sure it's one you can put back on either, because the type of person who will play Clockwork Revolution because it's on Game Pass may not be the type of person to pay $70 for it. I just hope whatever Xbox does doesn't result in even more layoffs for the studios under its banner.

Xbox Game Pass is "extremely poorly managed" and Doom should never have been part of it, says former producer

It seems to me that no one is ever convinced that Game Pass deserves an oxygen tank while it's dying, not even Xbox executives. Having experienced what it's like to actually have your game on the sickly subscription service, Doom veteran Andrew Willis – who was impacted by the enormous job cuts at id Software in July – suggests a simple reason for all the confusion.

The former producer candidly tells Kiwi Talkz in a new interview that Game Pass is "poorly managed. Extremely poorly managed." He adds, "I think it was executed with so little foresight and so little attention to detail or understanding of the consumer market."

"So little sight there," Willis continues to say about Microsoft. "I think they just got caught in the trap of, 'Well, let's just make everything Netflix.'"

Microsoft could never decide how to measure Game Pass' success, Willis thinks. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma herself said in May that lowering the service's price to $23 was simply "a good first step" in improving it, and that Xbox staff would otherwise "have to outwork the problem in front of us in our path to restore durable growth." We know now that Microsoft's plan to "outwork the problem" includes a total of 3,200 layoffs at Xbox and, I guess, opportunistically deciding to publish another Hideo Kojima game.

Still, Sharma said as recently as July that "our business today is not healthy," partly because, "To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content."

"While those businesses have created meaningful value," Sharma added at the time, "they did not grow at the pace we expected."

Willis could have predicted this. He says, "When you start making decisions about commercial art that are investor-driven rather than consumer, or even developer driven, you're eventually going to make some pretty big mistakes. And I don't think Microsoft was ever able to figure out exactly how to measure the success of Game Pass."

"Was it hours played?" Willis wonders. "Was it games installed, was it user retention? I and many of my colleagues certainly never heard anything, like, metrics that we needed to hit. Is this a game you just want people playing in perpetuity? Do you want it to be super long? Do you just want people to see it and, like, want to install it right away, and you don't care if they play?"

This is why Doom: The Dark Ages had no business being on the platform. Willis says, "Doom should not have been on there. That was a stupid idea." While he was never explicitly told that its underwhelming commercial success contributed to id Software getting bludgeoned during Xbox layoffs, Willis wonders anyway if the game would have sold better had it not been available to Game Pass subscribers to play for free.

After The Dark Ages' 2025 launch, IP holder Bethesda was glad to tell fans, "Thank you for making DOOM: The Dark Ages the biggest launch in id's history - 7x faster to 3 million players than DOOM Eternal." But The Game Business reported at the time that a huge chunk of those 3 million players were on Xbox – over two million of them, actually – compared to just half a million fans on PS5.

"I know that sales didn't do as well as they were expected to," Willis says, "but I would suspect that's probably a huge part of Game Pass. And I guess whatever tradeoff from buying the game outright, to being on Game Pass, and whatever that metric was – installs, playtime, whatever – I guess maybe that wasn't good enough."

"I can only speculate why id was treated the way it was," the veteran producer adds. "I don't really have a good idea as to why id got chopped in half."

Unpopular and underperforming, Xbox doesn't have any answers, either.

Id Software dev says Microsoft's layoffs prove "they fundamentally don't understand" art, games, the entire business, or the destruction they just caused.

The developers of Fable are confident that they have stuck the landing when it comes to the ending of the upcoming RPG.

The Fable series is home to some fairly beloved games when people get past the perhaps overhyped pre-release comments about everything you can do in them, with Fable 2 generally being the favorite of many. However, Fable 2 simultaneously has one of the worst endings ever put to a game. Spoiler alert: the final boss confrontation against Lucien, who you have been chasing the entire game, boils down to you playing a music box, shooting him once, and him falling off his pedestal dead – or with someone else shooting him if you let him talk too long. It's comedic for sure, but given all the horrible stuff your protagonist went through at his hands, it's a bit too anti-climactic.

Thankfully, Playground Games co-founder and Fable (2027) game director Ralph Fulton seems to be assuring an ending that bad won't be repeated. Speaking to The Guardian, Fulton explains that the main quest won't feel quite as urgent, to push players into messing around in the world, and to allow more meaningful player choice. He adds that the finale is the only time a player will be locked into the story, and promises that "most importantly, we stick the landing.

"It's easy to look at industry metrics saying 100% of people start a game and only 25% finish, and decide not to invest heavily in the finale," Fulton explains, adding: "We relentlessly pursued quality here."

What that ending is remains to be seen when the game releases next February, but Fulton teases that "in great Fable fashion, it culminates in a choice that really challenges you to think about who you are, with a real personal cost to weigh against the outcome."

Amid relentless layoffs at Xbox, Fable lead says "so many people" at the company see the RPG as "vital to the DNA of the platform," which "protected us over a long development cycle."

Fable has been a long time coming, with its development spanning several waves of layoffs at publisher Xbox, as well as the cancellation of high-profile projects. But the RPG's director suggests that the RPG has been unscathed because it's viewed as "vital to the DNA of the platform."

A new interview with The Guardian really puts into perspective how long Fable has been in the works, with production apparently starting as far back as 2016. We wouldn't see Playground Games' reveal trailer until 2020, but even then, fans have been waiting over six years for the RPG, during which time there have been major changes at Microsoft and Xbox, as well as across the industry as a whole.

We've seen thousands of layoffs at the company over the last few years – only in July, a further 1,600 roles were eliminated, with another 1,600 to come throughout the 2027 fiscal year as part of what CEO Asha Sharma called "the most significant restructure in Xbox history." A number of games have also been scrapped – last year, the Perfect Dark reboot was canceled as developer The Initiative was closed down amid a different wave of layoffs. ZeniMax Online Studios' new MMO, Project Blackbird, was also lost at this point, which led to former Elder Scrolls Online boss Matt Firor leaving the company.

Needless to say, there's been a lot of instability at Xbox, but thankfully, Fable is still set to release next year. "I genuinely think Fable is an important game. What has protected us over a long development cycle is that so many people within Xbox view Fable as vital to the DNA of the platform," says Playground Games co-founder and Fable director Ralph Fulton.

"I would go a step further and say it's important to video games as a whole," he continues. "It offers a combination of elements that simply doesn't exist anywhere else."

It's appropriate, then, that this Fable game isn't just releasing on Xbox Series X|S and PC; it's also coming to PS5 – a plan that's not changed since Xbox outlined its recent plan to "reevaluate our approach to exclusivity" after its prior move to let more of its titles fly the nest to competitor platforms.

Unfortunately, the RPG was also recently delayed – avoiding GTA 6, it'll now be launching on February 23, instead.

Fable is "15-20 hours" long, Xbox confirms, but you can "literally play it forever" if you treat it more like a life sim than an RPG.

Following Sony dropping Hideo Kojima's next project, analysts report that the Death Stranding series just about broke even in sales.

Despite making a massive deal out of its exclusivity when it was announced – it being the finale of a State of Play presentation – Sony reportedly wanted to cancel Kojima Productions' Metal Gear spiritual successor, Physint. Pretty soon after, Xbox announced it's now publishing both of the upcoming Hideo Kojima games, with OD still on the way, leaving many perplexed as to why Sony would drop one of its most anticipated titles amid a whirlwind few months of bad press for the PlayStation brand.

Some speculated that the Death Stranding games had underperformed, leading to Sony's decision; however, from the sounds of things, the series didn't flop, but it didn't do much more than its budget. Anilea Analytics reports that the first Death Stranding did pretty well, selling 5 million copies by the end in the same time it took Death Stranding 2 to sell around 2.5 million copies.

Death Stranding has reportedly made about $243 million, with a rumored budget of around $100 million, while Death Stranding 2 has made about $129 million on a rumored budget of somewhere between $150-200 million. Anilea reports the franchise has definitely broken even with its $413 million made across both games, "but not by much," with "an estimated return on investment of 18% to 38%."

The development of Metal Gear Solid 5 reportedly going over budget is part of what caused the rift between Konami and Hideo Kojima, so the idea of Physint development being expensive isn't too surprising to hear. And with Sony releasing a string of high-profile misses as of late, with the likes of Marathon, Saros, and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls having pretty low-profile launches, and of course Sony sinking a ton of money into failed live service projects that end up canceled mid-dev (or after release in Concord's case), the publisher being more stingy is not entirely surprising.

However, Sony built its way back from the PS3's failures by being known for its high-quality releases. The Last of Us, the Horizon series, and so on fed into the prestige-publisher look Sony maintained until it decided to chase a live-service hit and stopped releasing games as often. And even then the Wolverine reviews seem to indicate the PlayStation first-party formula may be losing its shine a bit.

I can't think of something with more prestige than Hideo Kojima doing a new Metal Gear-like game, which not only would probably sell better than Death Stranding did on that basis alone, but even if it only broke even, it's the type of game that gets people in who will eventually pick up the next game. But hey, PlayStation's loss is Xbox's gain, unless it also decides to cancel the title.

Sony has topped a generational run of self-owns: abandoning Hideo Kojima's next Metal Gear right as Marvel's Wolverine falls flat

Xbox has announced it's working with Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions on its Metal Gear spiritual successor, Physint, after PlayStation apparently wanted to cancel the project earlier this year.

Following Death Stranding 2's release, the list of upcoming Hideo Kojima games comprises OD, his new attempt at a horror game in partnership with Xbox following the Silent Hills debacle, and Physint, a return to the action espionage genre in the vein of Metal Gear, which Sony made a big song and dance about when announcing. The latter seems like a somewhat personal game to the director, as he says it was conceived while he was sick during the Covid-19 pandemic, realizing people wanted something like Metal Gear from him.

Earlier today, PlayStation's Twitter account posted a statement saying, "After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with Kojima Productions on its project Physint". Then, within two minutes, Xbox posted on the Xbox Wire Blog that it would be publishing Physint.

Despite Sony's messaging that it simply stepped away, Kojima himself explained "In mid-June of this year, we unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios that they would cancel the Physint project."

He adds, "Physint is an important project both to me personally and to Kojima Productions. Determined to keep the project alive, we have spent the last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner."

Kojima explains, "We found in Xbox a partner with whom we share a common vision for the future, and we have decided to team up with them once again."

Kojima adds: "Please rest assured that development of Physint, our genre-defining action-espionage title, is ongoing and will continue moving forward."

The combination of this news and a litany of decisions from Sony over the last few years once again leaves me questioning PlayStation's plans for the future.

After the Concord debacle, the cancellation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us 2 multiplayer leading to it looking like the developer is going to skip the PS5 generation, Horizon Hunter's Gathering in general, and even going back to the closures of Bluepoint and Japan Studio, Sony seems allergic to what made PlayStation so beloved over the PS4 generation.

That being said, Xbox doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence either, following its repeated string of mass layoffs and high-profile game cancellations like Perfect Dark and Everwild. Hopefully OD does well, because right now I'm not exactly confident Physint is still coming out.

Hideo Kojima is "envious" of 21-year-old Backrooms director: "I made Metal Gear at 23 – but A24 didn’t get in touch with me until I was about 59"

Blizzard union members represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) have won a contract that shields a total of 1,900 workers at the World of Warcraft developer ahead of BlizzCon 2026, and in the middle of parent company Microsoft's ongoing plan to layoff a total of 3,200 people.

"It's a new day at Blizzard, where greater power for workers is translating into more innovative games for players," says CWA president Claude Cummings Jr. in a press release. The union – which includes World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, Blizzard's story and franchise development team – is now guaranteed protections regarding layoffs, Microsoft's AI usage, and other urgent concerns.

"The company has to talk with us before implementing AI tech that affects our working conditions, and we get to negotiate over the impact of that,” senior World of Warcraft designer Paul Cox tells Aftermath "We'll also be regularly discussing AI as part of our labor management committee, which is the sort of meeting between the union and the company on a frequent basis where we can bring up everything from AI to 'Hey, people are complaining that the toilet doors have too large of a gap in them.'"

And since Microsoft is cracking its knuckles ahead of another 1,600 layoffs at Xbox, Blizzard union workers also made sure to secure "really strong layoff protections," Cox says. Union members are now eligible for at least four weeks of severance and recall rights that last 14 months, which give qualified laid-off workers the opportunity to be "recalled" into open positions at Blizzard during that time period.

Cox explains, "If WoW has a bunch of layoffs, but Diablo doesn't, and Diablo is looking to expand, the folks who are laid off from WoW can get recalled into Diablo if they're qualified, which has definitely never happened in our industry before, and is very rare to see just in general. So we are really excited about that."

Blizzard workers have been fighting to feel steady in an increasingly unstable industry for a while now – apparently, "a few hundred people" have been stationing themselves outside the Blizzard campus' 12-foot tall orc statue to make "noise on a regular basis," says Blizzard senior editor Alison Veneto. But Veneto thinks what really convinced Blizzard bosses to take the company's union members seriously was the threat of an awkward BlizzCon 2026, which starts on September 12.

"I'll go ahead and say it: BlizzCon is next week," she explains. "Going into BlizzCon without a contract with the level of mobilization that had been ramping up from Blizzard employees could have been uncomfortable." But now Blizzard union members' efforts have paid off, and everyone can relax – until the next thing.

43-year CRPG veteran behind Fallout and Wasteland "worried about job loss" from AI, which seems justified now that his parent company Microsoft laid off 9,000 in exchange for more slop.

Fable has a while to go before its release on February 23, 2027, but we're already salivating at the prospect of buying up every property in Albion and milking the fantasy land for all the gold it's worth.

After chatting with its game director Ralph Fulton, we now know exactly how we're going to do it. He shared key tips on manipulating the game's simulated economy and maximizing profits.

Treasure horde

"While there will be a way to optimize every business, one of the best ways to optimize a business is to identify whether an employee is actually working hard enough to increase the amount the business earns, and if not, fire them and just keep trying new employees to find one whose trait fits the business. [That's an] inside tip for you."

In Fable, not only can you play the role of a gallivanting adventurer, but if you fancy it, a ruthless business magnate. With tailors, bookshops, barbers, pubs, tattoo parlors, and bakeries all available to invest in, there's plenty of capitalistic possibility to sink your teeth into.

"Now," says Fulton, using a bakery as an example, "I can raise their wages, which in turn makes them happier, which would make them like me more and may make them a better employee, which then increases the overall yield of the bakery. But it might not. It might just lose me money. I could put their wages down. That's undoubtedly going to make them dislike me, think I'm greedy, and it may decrease their performance. But it might not. See what I mean? So you're kind of playing with a set of levers."

Specific NPC traits can help or hinder your enterprise. But which traits should you look out for? The most important one is 'hard-working'. Any NPC with this trait will apparently boost profits by 20% right off the bat. For Fulton, however, there's one industry in particular you'll want to invest in if you're after a shortcut to the millionaire's club: farming. That's because farms are among the most lucrative ventures, capable of supporting six workers.

"Now, if you can go and get six hard-working NPCs, put them to work on a farm, that all stacks. So suddenly you can be making a ton of money from that. I didn't know that until someone in our level design team pointed that out to me. But that is actually the smart play if you're going the property route."

So, by stacking buffs triggered by traits (the 'helpful' trait is another effective one), you can get the most out of Fable's layered financial systems. Buy up a farm, introduce your own hired help, and make bank. But it's the kind of help you bring in that determines how much money it makes.

Here's where Playground Games' incredible attention to detail comes in. It refuses to use a randomizer tool for NPCs, instead applying every single one of these thousands of traits one by one.

Doing this in a settlement like Bowerstone is monumental work. This is a location containing 400 NPCs alone, each with their own routines, personalities, likes, and dislikes. Doing this across the whole of Albion is downright Herculean.

"We individually picked everything about every NPC to make it into an NPC that you could read, that made sense top to bottom. We originally had a tool that would randomize it, and just 'roll' an NPC, and that would have been a massive labor-saving device. That would have saved us so much time, but what we found was, they just didn't make as much sense."

Business fantasy

Randomized NPCs resulted in unconvincing mismatches between trait, job, and look – like a hairdresser with a bland bob, a pacifist weaponsmith, or a vegan butcher.

As with everything in Fable, building the best business is a delicate balancing act. Pay your employees too little and you'll make more profit, sure, but they'll come to resent you, spreading word around town of your miserly ways.

This results in drastic changes to your reputation. You may become known as selfish, cruel, or any number of different pejoratives applied to your character in response to your actions. Adjectives are expressed as a word cloud floating next to your character's head, and what's really interesting is when you get contrasting ones.

For example, if your penny pinching avatar also has a way with words, there's nothing stopping them being known as charming and Scrooge-like at the same time.

"You could," says Fulton when asked if it's possible to have a reputation as a friendly murderer, "if you were being kind and generous on one hand but also killing people."

"You can see that's contradictory. But actually it's a more accurate representation of the things you're doing, and what people know about you, rather than moving incrementally up-and-down a single scale."

For some, the endgame for all this gold might be a glitzy mansion. If you're in the market for one, you'll want to hit up a place on the outskirts of Bowerstone called Manor Fields. Here you'll find impressive stately homes, some with their own hedge mazes.

For others, the goal will be more modest: a simple house and a family. In Fable, that family is more detailed than ever. Your wife and child have their own routines, as with every single NPC you encounter. They won't just wait around for you all day to return home after a full day of adventuring, but run errands around town as they live their own lives.

Fulton describes the challenges in implementing this system. He details a playtester whose in-game wife would teleport around at odd hours randomly giving out birthday presents.

These glitches are, thankfully, fixed. Your spouse won't get up in the middle of the night to wish you many happy returns, instead waiting until morning. But it's just one of innumerable game-breaking bugs that could potentially befall a game of Fable's magnitude, one in which your actions reverberate across the land morally, ethically, and economically.

"You can certainly transform the economic future of people," says Fulton. "By using the levers at your disposal as a landlord, as a business owner, you can change the lives of people."

Our best RPGs and best story-driven RPGs lists are no fable, but great places to get more recommendations on what to play next!

Double Fine has just regained its independence as a studio after seven years at Microsoft, who founder Tim Schafer initially didn't want as a dad anyway. But things seemed OK until new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma stepped in for Phil Spencer.

"No one puts Double Fine out of business except for me," Schafer tells Bloomberg in a new report. "Asha's not going to shoot my dog. I'm going to shoot it. But I'm not going to shoot it because it's going to do great. A lot of people want to walk the dog." It's a good dog – Double Fine made the fantastic Psychonauts 2 and always commits to weird experiments like pottery brawler Kiln.

The developer's allegiance to the strange is what made Schafer suspicious of Microsoft in the first place, when it offered to buy the entire studio in 2019. He remembers thinking, "I don't want to get bought by you," since, "You guys love shutting down studios." But former Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer was a real fan, and current Xbox CCO Matt Booty assured Schafer that Double Fine would get to feel self-sufficient – and it did, until Xbox's huge leadership overhaul this year.

"It's not all at once out of the blue," Schafer says, seemingly nodding to the realization that Sharma might have planned to include Double Fine in Xbox's mass layoffs. "It's like – oh, that person didn't reply to my joke text. That's kind of how you find out these things. So I knew before I knew."

Double Fine officially regained its independence on July 6 along with three other studios, including South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games. Schafer was convinced the studio would be dead at Microsoft "unless we had a breakout, Minecraft hit that year," but now he doesn't have to worry about such things; Double Fine just announced its new game Thank You Bus Driver on September 4. You play as a bus driver who wants passengers to say thank you.

"After all these years," says Schafer, "how little I understand about the business just shows how hard it is to know."

He continues, "That's why I'm focused on keeping my team alive. That's why we do these creative things all the time. If we stopped doing these wacky creative things, we'd eventually be like, 'Who cares?' These games aren't lucrative enough to make up for how hard they are. They have to also be really fun and rewarding to make."

After escaping Xbox, Double Fine lays off 23 people as Tim Schafer says "only the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful action."

Bethesda is among the many game studios affected by the ongoing mass layoffs at Xbox, which are set to cut 3,200 jobs by the end of the 2027 fiscal year. At least 1,600 employees have already been let go, including Skyrim and Fallout veterans with decades-long careers like Christiane Meister and Ray Lederer. It apparently was a rude awakening for staff at the storied studio, who'd hoped their work on such legendary franchises would insulate them from Microsoft's cost-cutting.

"There was an impending sense of doom, and it was like, man, is it going to be us?" Anne Barrett, who worked at Bethesda Game Studios Austin, tells The Guardian. "We thought we were safe. I mean, Bethesda Games Studios is Skyrim, it’s Fallout. We have really highly anticipated stuff coming out. We thought that the work we were doing was going to keep us safe. And instead, we got brought into a meeting that was two minutes long, to end, in some cases, decades of career at the company. It was just devastating."

Employees seemingly didn't have any more insight into the layoffs than the public did. They worried over the same reports of mass job cuts that the rest of us were all reading. The Guardian reports that they all learned of the mass layoffs when Asha Sharma published her "resetting Xbox" memo for the world to read. An hour later, people were called into meetings where they learned who had been fired.

"I remember, I laughed the whole day because I was in complete disbelief," Barrett says. "I was like, there’s no way they’re doing this. That’s how I processed it. Some of my co-workers were just devastated. I mean, breaking down. They did not understand what was going on. We had people who were just in really dark places. I think it hit me probably the next day. I felt like, wow – I just spent seven years doing all this. In college, people called me Bethesda because it was my dream to work here. And that was just … gone."

There are numerous upcoming Bethesda games in various stages of production, including the likes of The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5. Series fans have been waiting well over a decade for both of those RPGs, and they'll likely be among the biggest titles Xbox has ever released. Yet it's still been willing to cut the veteran talent who helped make the previous entries great.

"I don't know how you create games at the quality level we were without the institutional knowledge that's been lost," Barrett says. "We have proprietary tech. Our titles have a very well-known visual identity. And when you lose the people who built the tech, when you lose the people who were improving it, you can't just throw new people at that problem, right? You can’t replace an artist with someone brand new and say: 'Now replicate what they were doing 15, 20 years ago.' The company has said that they can do it. I disagree."

Barrett says that her "view of the industry has definitely been damaged." arguing that "there’s been a loss of sight over why AAA games were so valuable to players. It wasn't just that they were big and shiny. It was that [the studios] had the resources to invest in creativity. What I see now is the same formula over and over and over again. In any entertainment industry, if you do that enough times, people get tired of it. I would love for us as an industry to get back to actually being creative and investing in that creativity."

EA devs feel "the threat of layoffs at all times," especially after Saudi Arabia acquisition: "It's hard to see how teams or games that underperform wouldn't be dissolved."

Xbox has confirmed that Fable's main story will be around 15 to 20 hours long, exactly in keeping with the first three entries in the venerable RPG series. You can double that playtime with sidequests and exploration, and the real devotees can play "forever" if they want to treat the game as a life sim.

"We have around 15-20 hours of mainline quest gameplay, we have around 15-20 of side and open-world exploration content gameplay," associate game director Will Kennedy says at a Gamescom Q&A session, via Polygon. "And then, of course, the life systems are limitless, so you can play them for as long as you want."

"You can literally play it forever if that's what you want to do," fellow associate game director Craig Littler adds.

Personally, that sounds like the perfect length for an RPG to me – but I recognize I have a professional incentive to squeeze in as many games as I can manage. For players who invest in a small handful of games per year, the rise of RPGs like The Witcher 3, Baldur's Gate 3, and Elden Ring – whose playtimes can only be measured along astronomical scales – has fundamentally shifted expectations.

Still, the original Fable games are beloved for a reason, and part of that reason is the fact that they're breezy role-playing experiences that don't overstay their welcome. All three existing mainline Fable games are listed at around 15 hours to complete the main story on HowLongToBeat, with that time extending to 25 hours or more depending on how many side quests you want to do.

Regardless, the fact that Playground Games is confident enough in the new Fable's life simulation aspects to cite them as a reason to keep playing forever is certainly encouraging. The game promises a big, dynamic open world with loads of opportunities to get up to sandbox shenanigans, and that can go a long way toward making an RPG feel like more than the sum of its main story quests.

Fable’s combat shows a lot of promise, but I'm glad it's not launching this year.

Warhammers have never been my thing in RPGs, and I expected the same to be said of my approach to Fable. But, loading into my hands-on combat demo, I found myself falling for a hefty hammer over my usual go-to dagger.

I try out two loadouts during the session: one with a bow and arrow in addition to my hammer, and another with a more rapid-fire, SMG-like crossbow. Each comes with four requisite spells, from levitation to thunder spears and huge floating swords to pin my prey down before finishing them with a big hammer swipe. Most excitingly, I get to polymorph wraiths into little ghost chickens and boot them across the screen.

Hammering home

For Playground Games' first stab at third-person combat (the Forza Horizon developer has been more comfortable behind the wheel until now), Fable absolutely impresses. There’s irreverent delight in experimenting with the two systems, seeing which spells synergize with my weapon as I discover powerful new ways to beat up baddies.

Slaughtering a skeleton makes a spirit burst out of its crumpled form, which spawns even more deadly foes until you beat it to undeath all over again with a well-timed arrow to the head, fire bolt to the face, or wallop with my beloved hammer. Combat here can feel more inventive than typical hack and slash fare.

But, there are a few areas that still need smoothing. My character model's head and neck feel stiffer than expected while breaking into a run, and a seemingly automatic enemy lock-on can get frustrating when I'm swarmed out the gate. The rapid-fire crossbow also seems to break for me now and then – holding RT on my Xbox controller should send out a barrage of arrows, but every so often I need to hammer the button to make it fire instead. I'm not sure if it's meant to feel like it's jamming or not, but it's not the most pleasant experience when angry skeletons have a bone to pick.

There are also moments where I wish enemies would feel more reactive and aggressive. Even on the hard 'Legend' difficulty, crossbow-wielding skeletons and their lengthy reload animations leave ample time for me to close the gap and finish them off. I don't feel overly challenged at the moment. Obviously, early demos can still be a ways off final balance, but in Fable I want to earn the right to call myself a Hero.

Thankfully, the stiffness never distracts from how spells facilitate some truly magical moments. My personal favorite spell lets me disappear and dash behind a group of enemies before knocking them flying with a heavy melee spin attack – which is also how I manage to finish off a huge wraith boss, spawning legions of ghostly minions to his aid.

Beyond these kits that make up my hands-on, I'm told there will be other weapons to choose from in the full game, and that new spells acquired through narrative progression can be swapped out any time you fancy, all in the name of player choice and experimentation.

I'm torn. There's an argument to be made that Playground should delay Fable once more. The next six months running up to launch will certainly be crucial for Playground to refine its work.

The ingredients are there for a sharp, dynamic combat system that packs a mean punch as well as a crackling bolt of lightning. But, so far, I feel like I'm reading a fable that still has notes in its margins. It's just about making sure everything connects to deliver an RPG worthy of Albion's legend. We've waited long enough as it is, and I can be patient if it means getting it right.

Looking to spin more fables of your own? Our best RPGs and best story-driven RPGs rankings are filled with recommendations for tales that'll stick with you!

Former Halo series lead and Halo 3 ODST creative director Joseph Staten has praised The Witcher 3's new expansion, reflecting on what the team could've done with more expansions for Halo games.

Over on Twitter, Staten posted the Songs of the Past trailer, saying that it's "super inspiring to see CD Projekt Red deliver new Witcher 3 adventures," with the next expansion set to release 12 years after The Witcher 3 first released in 2015. He adds, "I often think about what it would have been like if we’d kept building on Halo 3 with ODST-like expansions – new stories, innovative mechanics, etc." Saying that it "Would have been great fun."

Halo 3 ODST is one of the most beloved games in the franchise for many. Originally starting as DLC for Halo 3, it took a different approach to campaign design than the main series had at the time, trading a lot of the spectacle for a film-noir-inspired title that's a bit smaller scale than the threat of world-ending catastrophes found in Halo 3.

When asked if this would've potentially been a smaller team within Bungie working on Halo side stories while the main team was focused on Destiny, Staten responded, "In theory, this only would have happened if we never left Microsoft, which likely means Destiny never existed."

While spinoffs aren't exactly rare, Halo 3 ODST is exactly the type of project I'd love to see from devs more often, smaller scale stories that perhaps focus on side-characters to bridge the gap between major sequels, Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales being another great example of this. And who knows, perhaps more titles like ODST could get Halo back on track.

Give Master Chief a break – I want more Halo games like ODST and Reach.

Halo co-creator and art director Marcus Lehto says he disagrees with some of Campaign Evolved's decisions, but is rooting for the franchise nonetheless.

The former Bungie creative director recemtly commented on the Halo franchise, with Lehto saying that "talk of Halo's future is certainly very exciting," but that it's "fanciful and that I doubt Asha [Sharma, Xbox CEO] really gives a shit."

He added that fans may not actually want him to return to the franchise, saying, "If I were to make another Halo these days, I bet many of you would not like it." This also followed his comments that he is unhappy the new Halo remake left multiplayer out of the package.

In a post on Twitter, Lehto acknowledges there's been "Lots of discussion about my thoughts on Halo lately." He explains, "I genuinely enjoyed Campaign Evolved and think there’s a lot of great work in it. I may disagree with some decisions, but I’m rooting for the team and for Halo."

Lehto adds, "I helped create it, and I’ll always care deeply about it."

Unfortunately, Halo hasn't had the best time since Bungie stopped working on the franchise. Halo 4 was received well enough, but Halo 5 and the subsequent messy release of Halo Infinite have left the fanbase burnt out. While remaking the first game in the series certainly feels like setting the stage to reboot it altogether, there's no denying that Halo has lost its luster along the way.

Give Master Chief a break – I want more Halo games like ODST and Reach.

Amid all of the GTA 6 leak shenanigans and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake rumors coming to fruition, word has been circulating online about another series potentially getting a new entry: the beloved Ori games.

If you're not familiar with Ori and the Blind Forest or Ori and the Will of the Wisp, they're charming Metroidvanias developed by Moon Game Studios – but published by Microsoft Studios and Xbox Game Studios, respectively. In other words, Microsoft essentially owns the rights to the IP rather than Moon Game Studios.

So, when rumors about another Ori game started coming to light, folks thought it'd be handled by new devs.

According to Thomas Mahler, CEO of Moon Game Studios and director behind both Ori games, however, that's not the case – and, in fact, there is supposedly no Ori 3 in the works anywhere.

"Once again there's a bunch of people asking me about Ori 3 since there's rumors floating about," as he writes over on X. "As before, I haven't heard anything about any of this." He then explains why he believes only his studio could pull a threequel off.

"I think after having put billions into 343 to handle Halo and not being able to recapture the old magic, I'd guess that by now Microsoft has learned their lesson that the right talent needs to work on those IP's, otherwise you'll undoubtedly get more slop," the lead states, alluding to the more mixed reviews Halo entries headed by 343 Industries saw, like Halo 4.

What Mahler says next about Moon Game Studios' own plans is quite eye-catching, though.

"Internally, we've been discussing our interest in purchasing the IP back," the CEO describes, because "I doubt any other studio could really do much with it, so it makes sense for this one to come home to Moon!"

In a later post, he reiterates all of this, writing, "I can confirm that the Ori 3 rumors are nonsense" and stating that composer Gareth Coker "asked me if we'd be ready to do another one" – another Ori game, that is. "'It's time,' he said!"

So, there you have it – there might not be a new Ori in the works after all. It's important to note that Xbox could still have something up its sleeve, as there's no real way to tell – but that may truly just be wishful thinking at this point, considering everything.

Searching for some new games to play? Browse through our handy little roundup of the best Metroidvania games out there right now.

Halo universe co-creator and former Bungie creative director Marcus Lehto is having all kinds of strange ideas about the future of the franchise. But before you get too excited and start shooting your Needler pistol into the air, you should know the former Bungie creative director is certain you'll hate what he's thinking, and IP owner Xbox won't care.

"While talk of Halo's future is certainly very exciting, I'm aware that it's fanciful and that I doubt Asha [Sharma, Xbox CEO] really gives a shit," Lehto writes in an August 19 Twitter post. "Also, Halo MUST be built by a local team together," he adds, jabbing at Microsoft's reputation for internal layoffs followed by external contracting, "not outsourced around the globe to a group that has ZERO investment in making something great."

That could be that. But whatever Lehto's been mulling over sounds compelling, and Xbox has lately been experiencing more drastic changes than a little Halo revival, so...

Lehto teases in another Twitter post, "If I were to make another Halo these days, I bet many of you would not like it. It would be a lot darker with a more grounded military feel."

Then, while Halo games have always offered multiplayer PvP – Lehto despises the fact that the new Halo remake left this feature out – they aren't as reliable when it comes to PvE. But it sounds like Lehto wants to rectify this with a truly PvPvE Halo à la Arc Raiders, saying, "PvP would be the brains, PvE the heart and soul."

Ultimately, "It would not be 'everyone's' Halo," Lehto says confidently. In case he hasn't yet sharpened that point enough to tear through your gauzy memories of 2001, he adds that, "I would probably bench much of the current lore – respect it, but build a new future narrative for both the old and new audiences which makes much more sense."

Halo fans finally bared their teeth at this. A spooky, more militaristic Halo? Sure. PvPvE? Interesting. Xbox is currently an unsightly lump of job cuts and drooping revenue – fine, maybe it doesn't even deserve a new Halo game, that's not Lehto's fault. But threats to the lore are simply offensive, fans say, even if they come from the man who helped establish 26th century alien colonization.

"The lore is the only good thing about halo," one person argues on Twitter.

"I know this is just your aspirations, but Halo really can't afford another soft reboot," frets another.

Lehto gets it. If lightning strikes at the right time and his unconventional Halo sequel eventually gets approved, he says, first, "We'd need to sit together, break bread, and enjoy some deep conversation – along with some fine beverages of course." Can we get that in a Halo game?

Give Master Chief a break – I want more Halo games like ODST and Reach.

Quick Resume is a regular column dedicated to all things Xbox from GamesRadar+'s Editor-in-Chief. This week, Josh is (regretfully) arguing for Fable to be delayed once again.

If Xbox is serious about wanting to return to growth in 2027, then chief content officer Matt Booty should make one more difficult decision before year's end – he should delay Fable one final time.

When I spoke with Booty following the Xbox Games Showcase, the CCO told me that part of his job "is making sure that every game has a place to shine." He reasoned that Gears of War: E-Day "can be a game that pushes through in September" as it leads Xbox's return to console exclusivity.

And as for Fable, Booty told me: "We really want to give it its own space – its chance to shine. It made more sense to move it out of the year, instead of having to come right at the end of it."

The upcoming RPG was pushed to February 23, 2027 – moving it clear of the GTA 6 vortex. When the decision was made in May to delay Fable, its new release window was relatively clear of competition. Now it looks like the sort of month where time goes to die.

• Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, February 12
• God of War Laufey, February 16
• Persona 4 Revival, February 18
• Fable, February 23
• Metro 2039, February TBC

The new games release schedule for Feb 2027 reflects one of the strongest months of the console generation. It's an exciting lineup, and I have no idea how I'm going to play them all. God forbid Rockstar relaunches GTA Online within this timeframe.

I wouldn't advocate for a Fable delay were it not for Sony Santa Monica deciding to date God of War Laufey for February at SDCC. It's hard not to feel as if PlayStation Studios has made an active decision here. It swerved clear of the relatively clear January and March windows to position its first PS5 exclusive of 2027 a week before one of Xbox's most important upcoming titles.

Remember, Fable is a multiplatform release. Xbox is surely hoping that positive reception from the massive audience of PS5 players will help push this long-awaited franchise revival to new heights – reestablishing Fable as a core pillar of the Xbox platform, one which could (whisper it) draw PlayStation owners to Xbox when it inevitably comes time for a platform-exclusive sequel to Project Helix.

The situation is complicated further by Xbox granting five days of early access to whomever pre-orders the Premium Edition. So, come February 18, PS5 owners will have a tough choice to make. If Xbox is serious about wanting to return to growth in 2027, having recorded a $1.7 billion decline in revenue last year, then it needs to give Fable the clearest runway to succeed on both platforms.

When I spoke with Playground Games' general manager in June, he noted that there was "a little bit of disappointment" within the studio that Fable had been pushed to 2027. I'm certain that another shift would be similarly received internally, but the argument for Fable's original delay still rings true today:

"We could all absolutely see the benefits of that movement – moving out of that really congested period towards the end of the year, and obviously avoiding Grand Theft Auto," said Ralph Fulton. "The thing I love about it now, and the thing I've tried to sell the team on, is that going into February and having a much less contested window allows us the opportunity to go out and really make a moment for ourselves, and get the attention that I think this game deserves."

Fulton is correct in his assessment. Fable is deserving of attention. Everything I have personally seen of the game so far is exceptionally promising, and I firmly believe that it has the capacity to reshape the way we think about RPGs through its expressive, interlocking living population and social systems.

What Fable needs is the space to shine. Room for discussion to flourish out of it, rather than risk getting caught in the inevitable, exhausting 'Kratos vs. Laufey' debate that's surely (and sadly) going to dominate February.

Related Stories: