Xbox's restructuring has eliminated 268 positions across Halo Studios, other first-party developers and Xbox Game Studios, with Age of Empires studio World's Edge losing "just under half" of its employees following its transfer to Activision.

Former World's Edge creative director Adam Isgreen, a 16-year Microsoft veteran, confirmed the cuts in posts on Reset Era (under the verified username Tempus Chaoti) and LinkedIn. Eurogamer first reported the news.

"I'm 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," Isgreen wrote on LinkedIn.

"We had some great plans for what's next, and I hope the team that remains can rise to the occasion down the line," he added.

What does the restructuring change for Xbox's first-party portfolio?

The layoffs accompany a significant reorganization of Microsoft's studio map. World's Edge moved to Activision alongside Rare and the Halo franchise as part of the same announcement.

Activision president Rob Kostich framed the transfers as both an opportunity and an obligation. "We're thrilled to welcome Halo, Rare, and World's Edge to Activision," he said. "It's an honour and a responsibility that we do not take lightly. These teams and their games have inspired fans around the world for decades."

For World's Edge, the immediate operational consequence is a substantially reduced headcount. The studio, which stewards the Age of Empires franchise, will continue with roughly half its prior staff — a reduction that lands directly on the team's capacity to execute the plans Isgreen referenced for the strategy series.

Which other studios were affected?

The restructuring extends well beyond World's Edge:

• Ninja Theory is set for closure.
• Undead Labs became an independent studio, though a significant number of employees were made redundant during the process.
• Halo Studios and other first-party developers absorbed a share of the 268 eliminated positions.

Undead Labs acknowledged the departures in a statement addressing the State of Decay team members who lost their jobs. "They are exceptionally talented developers who have poured years into the State of Decay franchise: solving hard problems, looking after one another, and helping shape both this game and this studio," the developer said.

What does the move mean for the teams involved?

The transfer of World's Edge, Rare and Halo to Activision consolidates three of Microsoft's most recognizable properties under one publishing umbrella. For the remaining World's Edge staff, that means new reporting lines and a new corporate parent while absorbing the workload of departed colleagues on a franchise with an active development pipeline.

Isgreen's comment that the team "had some great plans for what's next" signals that unannounced Age of Empires projects were in motion prior to the cuts — work that the reduced team will now need to reassess or carry forward.

The scale of the reduction — just under half of a studio's headcount in a single move — sits within the broader pattern of Xbox's ongoing restructuring, which has now touched multiple first-party developers in a single wave of 268 eliminated positions.

For the industry at large, the episode repeats a familiar sequence: a studio changes hands within a corporate structure, and headcount follows within days. Activision inherits three franchises with decades of established fanbases, while the developers who built them scatter across the job market.

What remains to be seen is how Activision integrates World's Edge, Rare and Halo — and whether the remaining Age of Empires team can deliver the projects Isgreen says were already planned.