Every game canceled by the massive Xbox layoffs

On July 2, Microsoft cut 9,000 jobs across the company (via Bloomberg) and while the exact number of those layoffs that came from the Xbox division is unclear, the impact is clear. Some studios were closed, and several games were canceled. Xbox head Phil Spencer, who has been leading the Xbox division for over a decade, leading the vision of the current Xbox strategy, said that the job cuts were necessary for the future of Xbox. While the reason for the layoffs hasn't been confirmed, Microsoft's latest earnings report confirms that revenue was up across the board, and it continues to be one of the most profitable companies in the world. The future of Xbox looks bleak, and these cancellations will also impact the cadence of Xbox Game Pass releases, but more importantly, the loss of hundreds of talented developers and the projects they have spent years working on is what matters most.

4 Perfect Dark reboot

Perfect Dark has been canceled and The Initiative is gone

The Perfect Dark reboot, first announced back in 2020 as part of the build up to the launch of the Xbox Series X|S, has been canceled. The studio, The Initiative, was also shut down as part of the cancellation. Perfect Dark was a sci-fi shooter about aliens and future technology, originally made by Rare for the Nintendo 64 and later the original Xbox. Perfect Dark development had reportedly been going poorly, with a 2022 report from Windows Central describing it as painfully slow. A gameplay demo for Perfect Dark was featured in the Xbox Showcase in 2024, and while speculation started after the cancelation that the demo was fake, one level designer chimed in to confirm that it was mostly real. Adam McDonald, now a senior game designer at Studio MDHR, shared on social media that it was a playable demo, and while it worked best when following the beats of the demo, there was some flexibility since it was a real working demo. Now, Perfect Dark will continue being a dormant franchise that Microsoft sits on.

3 Everwild

Rare's long gestating project is no more

Everwild had been in development at Rare for over a decade, with an announcement in 2019 and a trailer in 2020 the only signs of life for the game. It has now been cut, and while Rare remains open, some veteran development talent has left (via GameSpot). Greg Mayles, who has been with Rare for over three decades, was directing Everwild and previously worked on Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country, has now left Rare. Executive producer Louise O'Connor, who worked on games like Conker's Bad Fur Day and Kameo, also left the company due to the cancelation. Rare isn't being shuttered, likely due to the ongoing success of Sea of Thieves, but the company has only released two games in the past decade, Sea of Thieves and Battletoads, which can be viewed as a failure of Xbox leadership to help the developer produce successful games.

2 Blackbird, a new MMO from ZeniMax Online Studios

The developers of the successful Elder Scrolls Online were working on its next MMO experience

ZeniMax Online Studios, the developer of The Elder Scrolls Online, had its next project, code-named Blackbird, canceled as part of the layoffs. As reported by Bloomberg, the unannounced game was canceled and the staff for the project have been laid off and their union is in the process of negotiating severance packages. This cancelation is one of the more shocking reveals, because the game was so good according to Bloomberg, that during a meeting just a few months ago, Matt Booty had to take the controller from Phil Spencer, who was so invested in the demo that he was actively delaying the meeting about the game. The studio is also responsible for The Elder Scrolls Online, one of Xbox's many successful live-service games. Blackbird was reportedly going to be an MMO sci-fi looter-shooter, mixing the gameplay of Destiny with the esthetics of Blade Runner, but now that game will never see the light of day.

1 John Romero's Next Game

Romero Games has canceled its next project, due to funding being pulled

Romero Games, the studio founded and run by John Romero, one of the key creators of Doom, had to cancel an upcoming FPS game due to publisher funding being pulled. The studio is not closing (via GameSpot) but the majority of the staff were let go due to funding being pulled. While Romero Games did not directly confirm which publisher pulled funding, the announcement came on the same day as the massive layoffs, and in a follow-up letter clarifying that the studio isn't closing, Romero Games implied that the reporting was accurate. The studio has said that it is seeking a new publisher for the FPS game, so there is a chance that it could be resurrected in the future, but there isn't a guarantee that another publisher is going to step up. Romero Games has developed a number of Doom mods that have served as spiritual sequels, and developed the tactics game Empire of Sin, focused on 1920s gangsters.

Several studios in limbo following these cuts

While these four games are the only projects directly canceled as part of the massive Xbox and Microsoft layoffs, there are other studios in limbo. Turn 10, the developers of Forza Motorsport, had 50% of its staff (via GameSpot), which has led some to believe that Forza Motorsport is effectively dead, with the studio reduced to support work for the Forza Horizon developer, Playground Games. All of these canceled projects will result in some holes in Game Pass releases in the future, but it has also shaken Xbox fans, who feel like these sorts of cuts are unsustainable for a company that wants to continue making video games. While the loss of these projects sucks, the loss of talented developers at Xbox is a bigger tragedy.