Xbox to Shutter at Least 5 Studios and Cancel Upcoming Blade Game
Quick Report
Microsoft is shuttering at least five Xbox Game Studios subsidiaries and cancelling the upcoming Blade game as part of major gaming division restructuring. The shuttered studios include Arkane Lyon (130 employees), Undead Labs (110 employees), Ninja Theory (139 employees), Double Fine Productions (100 employees), and one additional unnamed studio. The closures represent roughly 500-600 employees across multiple locations and follow widespread financial underperformance despite industry-wide revenue records.
Studio performance has been poor relative to investment. Arkane Lyon's last notable success was Dishonored 2 in 2016; Deathloop peaked at 20k players before losing 80% within a month. Ninja Theory hasn't had major commercial success since Senua's Sacrifice in 2017. Double Fine's only strong performer in recent years was Psychonauts 2 (1.7 million copies). Undead Labs hasn't released a successful title since State of Decay 2 in 2018. The Blade project, originally slated for development, was cancelled as part of Microsoft's reassessment of gaming investments. Internal sources note that many of these studios had been mismanaged and underperformed relative to their budgets.
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