Microsoft will be closing three game studios and absorbing a fourth, without citing specific reasons for why the decision to close them was made, reports Bloomberg and the BBC.
Microsoft will shut four studios. These include Tokyo studio Tango Gameworks, the developers of Bafta award-winning Hi-Fi Rush. Shinji Mikami, Tango’s founder and studio head, departed from the studio last year.
Also, Texas-based Arkane Austin – the developers behind Prey – and Canadian developer Alpha Dog Studios are being closed down.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin-based Roundhouse Games will be absorbed into Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios.
Microsoft has not said how many jobs will be cut due to the closures, all of which are being made at subsidiary Bethesda which Microsoft acquired for A$11.4 billion in 2020.
The BBC has reported seeing an email from head of Xbox Games Studios Matt Booty to staff.
He noted that the move would result in ending development on Arkane Austin game Redfall, with “some members of the team” joining other studios.
The company plans to “provide make-good offers” to players who had pre-ordered downloadable content for the game that will now not be released.
“These changes are grounded in prioritising high-impact titles and further investing in Bethesda’s portfolio of blockbuster games and beloved worlds which you have nurtured over many decades,” he wrote.
He added that there would also be “a small number of roles” cut across Bethesda’s publishing and corporate teams.
Recently, Microsoft’s gaming division has expanded more than any of its competitors via the acquisitions of ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard for more than A$115.54 billion combined. In February, Microsoft cut 1,900 jobs, mostly at Activision Blizzard.
This week, Xbox reportedly began offering voluntary severance agreements to select staff at ZeniMax including producers and quality assurance testers.
In February, in an official Xbox podcast, Microsoft indicated that it is working on a powerful next-gen Xbox.
Xbox president Sarah Bond alluded to Microsoft’s technical leap with the next generation Xbox, and shared news about plans to include Xbox exclusives to PS5 and Switch.
“We’ve got more to come. There’s some exciting stuff coming out in hardware that we’re going to share this holiday. We’re also invested in the next-generation roadmap. What we’re really focused on there is delivering the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation, which makes it better for players and better for creators and the visions that they’re building,” she said.
Leaks last year indicated that the refreshed Xbox hardware would include a disc-less Xbox Series X with 2TB of storage, and that the next generation Xbox would include a hybrid platform that combines the power of the console and cloud.
