Microsoft cancels its Perfect Dark and Everwild Xbox games

Microsoft is canceling its Perfect Dark and Everwild games arsenic portion of sweeping cuts to its Xbox division. Matt Booty, Xbox president of crippled contented and studios, revealed that Microsoft volition beryllium closing The Initiative, the workplace down Perfect Dark, successful an interior memo to Xbox employees today.

The cuts are portion of layoffs affecting around 9,000 employees crossed Microsoft, with Turn 10 Studios, the developer down Forza Motorsport, besides hit hard by today’s layoffs.

Here is Booty’s memo to staff:

Following Phil’s note, I privation to stock much astir the changes to the Studios concern units.

We person made the determination to halt improvement of Perfect Dark and Everwild arsenic good arsenic upwind down respective unannounced projects crossed our portfolio. As portion of this, we are closing 1 of our studios, The Initiative. These decisions, on with different changes crossed our teams, bespeak a broader effort to set priorities and absorption resources to acceptable up our teams for greater occurrence wrong a changing manufacture landscape. We did not marque these choices lightly, arsenic each task and squad correspond years of effort, imagination, and commitment.

Our wide portfolio strategy is unchanged: physique games that excite our players, proceed to turn our biggest franchises, and make caller stories, worlds, and characters. We person much than 40 projects successful progressive development, continued momentum connected titles shipping this fall, and a beardown slate headed into 2026.

For those straight affected, we are moving intimately with HR and workplace enactment to supply support, including severance, vocation modulation assistance, and wherever possible, opportunities to research roles connected different teams.

To everyone crossed our studios: convey you. Your creativity and resilience proceed to specify who we are. I judge successful the spot of our teams and the absorption we’re taking connected the way ahead.

Matt