New Halo game faces trouble as devs report 'unhappy' quality amid studio layoffs

Halo Studios has reportedly been hit by the Microsoft layoffs that impacted as many as 9,000 employees across various companies falling under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella.

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A developer from Halo Studios has informed Engadget that "at least five employees" from Halo have been fired as part of the recent sweeping Microsoft layoffs, following employees receiving an email last week from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer about incoming "organization shifts" intended to "increase agility and effectiveness." According to the report, affected Halo Studios employees were brought into a meeting with team leaders and informed about the incoming layoffs.

The developer also informed the publication that the environment at Halo Studios is quite tense, even before the scheduled layoffs. The reason for the tense environment is that the current state of the new Halo game isn't great, with that title currently undergoing significant development struggles. The developer said, "I don't think anybody is really happy about the quality of the product right now. There's been a lot of tension and pep talks trying to rally folks to ship."

"Xbox in general feels years behind the curve in game development, and it leads to a lot of wasted time and effort. They're trying their damndest to replace as many jobs as they can with AI agents," said the developer

If these comments about the current condition and morale at the studio are true, it doesn't bode well for the future of Xbox's flagship franchise. The Halo series hasn't seen much success, if any at all, leading to the once juggernaut studio 343 Industries rebranding to what is now referred to as Halo Studios, and announcing a shift to Unreal Engine 5. At the time, it appeared that was all good news, but it seems the studio is still experiencing difficulty in realizing their dream when it comes to the next Halo game.