Activision to develop next Halo game amid 268 Xbox layoffs

Xbox announced on September 22, 2026 that Activision will develop the next mainline Halo game, handing its flagship shooter franchise to the maker of Call of Duty while cutting 268 jobs across Halo Studios and other first-party studios. The announcement came in an Xbox Wire blog post titled "Continuing Our Reset," part of a broader restructuring that Xbox says is now three quarters complete. The layoffs affect Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and the Xbox Game Studios management and central functions layer. It is not yet clear exactly which employees are affected. The next Halo will be led by a new, purpose-built team at Activision that is separate from ongoing Call of Duty development, Xbox said. A small team at Halo Studios, formerly known as 343 Industries, will continue supporting the Halo community and games already in the market, but the studio will no longer lead the next mainline entry. Reporting indicates the new installment will be a full-feature mainline game rather than a reboot or remake, though no release date has been given. Activision president Rob Kostich said the company has begun assembling the team.