The latest Xbox reset is reaching one of its most recognisable franchises, changing who will shape what comes next.
Xbox is putting Activision in charge of the next mainline Halo game as its ongoing reset reaches Halo Studios. Xbox Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer Matt Booty confirmed the change in an Xbox Wire post published on Tuesday (22 September), alongside 268 job cuts across Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and Xbox Game Studios management and central functions.
The restructure will also leave Halo Studios with a smaller role focused on supporting the series' existing games and community.
Who is developing the next Halo game?
Activision will take over development of “the next Halo title”, with Booty saying the game will be led by “a new, purpose-built team” created specifically for the project. That group will be separate from Activision's existing Call of Duty development and plans, although Xbox has not yet announced a title, release window, or further details about the game itself.
Activision President Rob Kostich said work on assembling the team has already begun, with the publisher aiming to make “the greatest Halo game ever” while staying true to what players already love about the series. “We have already begun assembling a purpose-built team, unique in capability and talent,” he said, adding that the group is being built to handle Halo's next chapter.
It will be the first mainline Halo project developed outside 343 Industries or Halo Studios since Bungie left Microsoft in 2007. 343 took over the series and released Halo 4 in 2012, followed by Halo 5: Guardians in 2015 and Halo Infinite in 2021, before being renamed Halo Studios in 2024.
What happens to Halo Studios after the Xbox layoffs?
Halo Studios is among the teams affected by the 268 roles being eliminated under the latest stage of the Xbox reset. Its responsibilities around Halo are also being reduced, with Booty saying “a small team at Halo Studios will continue supporting the Halo community and games in-market” once development of the next title shifts to Activision.
The layoffs follow the 3,200 job cuts Xbox announced in July. Booty said the actions completed since then, including studio divestitures, bring Xbox “roughly three-quarters of the way through previously announced restructuring”. Addressing the staff affected by the latest round, he said he was “deeply grateful for what our colleagues have built” and knew “how difficult today will be for those leaving and the teams around them”.
The smaller Halo Studios team also leaves questions around work announced before the reset. When 343 Industries became Halo Studios in 2024, the developer said future Halo projects would move to Unreal Engine and showed Project Foundry, an experimental project exploring what the series could look and play like using Epic Games' engine. Xbox has not said whether that work will carry over to Activision's new Halo team.
What is changing under the Xbox reset?
The Halo shift sits within a broader reorganisation of Xbox's first-party studios. Booty said Xbox is reducing the number of business units, bringing together groups that already work closely, and concentrating more of its publishing expertise under fewer teams.
Activision will take on more than Halo under that structure. Booty said the publisher will also “expand its remit” to World’s Edge and Rare, giving it responsibility for several established Xbox franchises as the reset continues.
