A number of game contractors said their lost their jobs after Halo Campaign Evolved shipped on July 28. However, I have been told there have been no layoffs among internal staff employed at Halo Studios.
Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) worked on the remake of the classic Halo: Combat Evolved game that shipped 25 years. Built on the new Unreal Engine 5 technology, the game looks great and is expected to do well. (I loved the game).
However, the disconnect here is that Microsoft used contractors to supplement the internal staff at Halo Studios, and it appears that is why some people have said they lost their jobs.
“No layoffs have occurred at Halo Studios,” an Xbox source told GamesBeat. “There are often external contractor shifts that happen after a game ships. This is what people are noticing.”
Microsoft itself has no official comment.