Here’s every game cancelled by Xbox after devastating job cuts

Microsoft’s latest round of layoffs has ended development on a number of games, ranging from Everwild to an unannounced sci-fi shooter.

While Microsoft is no stranger to mass layoffs, its latest round of job cuts have been particularly detrimental to its gaming division.

Earlier this week, the company laid off over 9,000 people across Microsoft’s global workforce, which is estimated to be around 228,000 people. Something less than half of these cuts were at Xbox, which suggests around 4,000 people within the gaming division may have been affected.

A number of studios have reportedly been affected by the cuts, including Call Of Duty developers Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, and High Moon; along with others like Halo Studios, Rare, Blizzard, Turn 10, and The Initiative – the latte of which has been shut down entirely.

As part of the layoffs, several projects have been axed across the affected studios. While many other unannounced games have also likely been shelved, which we’ll probably never hear about, here’s all the confirmed and reported cancellations we know about so far.

Perfect Dark

As confirmed in a memo to staff from Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty, the reboot of Perfect Dark from developer The Initiative has been axed. The first-person shooter was last shown off at the Xbox Games Showcase in 2024, but has been marred by development issues for years. The Initiative in its entirety has also been closed down.

Everwild

In the same memo to staff, Booty announced Rare’s Everwild has also been cancelled. The action adventure title was originally announced in 2019 but little has been seen of it since, and it was reportedly rebooted in 2021.

According to VGC, Everwild’s director Gregg Mayles has departed Rare after 35 years, in the wake of the game’s cancellation, along with producer Louise O’Connor. Mayles is one of the team’s most celebrated developers, having directed Sea Of Thieves, Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Piñata, and others.

Rumoured Banjo-Kazooie project

While a new Banjo-Kazooie has never been confirmed, reliable insider NateTheHate claimed a project related to the IP did exist in January last year. However, in a post on ResetEra, after the layoffs, he wrote: ‘I’d assume it was shelved at this stage.’

It’s unclear when exactly the game was cancelled, but with the departure of Banjo-Kazooie co-creator Gregg Mayles at Rare, the chances of a new game in the series have never been more slim.

John Romero’s new shooter

Microsoft’s cuts have impacted studios beyond the house of Xbox. Romero Games, the studio founded by John and Brenda Romero, revealed that the publisher of its previously announced untitled first person shooter was in fact Microsoft, and that they had cancelled funding of the project amid the layoffs. According to reports, the studio has been shut down entirely as a result.

Blackbird

ZeniMax Online Studios, the creators of The Elder Scrolls Online, were apparently working on a sci-fi ‘third person, online looter shooter’ codenamed Blackbird. According to reports, the game made a huge impression on Xbox executives in March this year. But that didn’t stop them cancelling it and laying off all the developers.

Warcraft Rumble

At the same time as the layoffs, Blizzard announced it will no longer support free-to-play mobile strategy game Warcraft Rumble with new content. While the layoffs aren’t directly cited as the reason why, it’s very likely connected, with the developers noting that it ‘struggled to find its footing relative to our ambition for its long-term success’.

Forza Motorsport

Turn 10, the studio behind Microsoft’s long-running racing series Forza Motorsport, has also been severely impacted by the layoffs. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, nearly 50% of staff have been laid off as part of the cuts.

As noted on Reddit, former employees have since claimed the studio will remain open but as a support studio for Forza Horizon, which would mean an end to any future Forza Motorsport projects. Activision has a history of doing this with its internal studios and, as in many things lately, Microsoft seems to be taking inspiration from them in this instance.

Games still in development

According to Windows Central, Hideo Kojima and Jordan Peele’s upcoming Xbox exclusive OD is still in development, despite the cuts. ‘At least for now,’ the report notes.

Every game in June’s Xbox Games Showcase is also in the clear, according to Variety. This would include Clockwork Revolution, DoubleFine’s Keeper, Grounded 2, The Outer Worlds 2, and Gears Of War: Reloaded.

The status of other games are still unclear, namely Contraband which recently had its trailer pulled from YouTube (although reports suggest this might be due to a music licensing issue) and the long-delayed State Of Decay 3.

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