“The people we are losing were all important,” Schafer continued. “They all made an impact on our games and culture, and they will be missed.” The studio is now working with those impacted to support them the best it can.
Double Fine was one of five first-party Xbox studios impacted by Microsoft’s cuts and layoffs at the start of this month. South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games joined it in returning to independence, while Hellblade studio Ninja Theory and State of Decay 3 team Undead Labs were sold to currently unknown buyers.
Arkane Studios is also under consultation to “review [its] strategic options”, though an update on what’s been happening since the news went public hasn’t been provided. 1,600 Microsoft employees lost their jobs earlier in July, and another wave of 1,600 job losses will follow before July 2027.
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[source bsky.app]