Xbox rolled out its fourth round of mass layoffsin less than two years this week, and this round feels like it has had an even bigger impact on the publisher than any to have come before it. Every time I opened social media on Wednesday, I was met with news of another studio being gutted or a game being canceled. That’s why it was a relief to discover that, for the time being, someXboxprojects are safe.
Despite reports of various games being canceled amid Wednesday’s mass layoffs, Xbox’s Matt Booty relayed to employees via a memo to Microsoft Gaming staff that the publisher still has 40 projects in active development. Not detailed in the memo, but relayed toVarietyvia a source close to the situation, was the reveal that everything shown during this year’s Xbox Games Showcase is safe, for now.
Although it couldn’t compare to the incredible showcase 12 months earlier, this year’s Xbox showcase was still pretty great,with a lot of exciting games shown off. Among the highlights wereClockwork Revolution, There Are No Ghosts At The Grand, and Double Fine’s next game,Keeper. All of those games and anything else Xbox-published that was shown off during the showcase are still happening.
Everything Shown During This Year’s Xbox Games Showcase Is Still In Active Development
Send Positive Vibes To Anything You Wanted To See That Didn’t Show Up
You might think to yourself, “Well, of course,” since all of those games were shown off or revealed less than a month ago. Even that isn’t a guarantee that a game at Xbox is still in active development anymore. Earlier this year, Phil Spencer provided what felt like a positive update onEverwilddespite its troubled development. After Rare had been working on the game for a decade,Everwild has now been canceled.
Games you were expecting to see during this year’s showcase that were curiously absent are the ones you’ll want to send positive vibes to right about now if you want work on them to continue. Like Everwild, thePerfect Darkreboot that has also been in development hell for an extended periodwas also a casualty of this week’s cuts. The game may have been in worse shape than we thought, as, apparently,the only gameplay footage we were shown wasn’t actually from the game at all.
Unfortunately, we probably haven’t heard the last of what’s gone on at Xbox this week. With more than 9,000 people reportedly let go, there will likely be other announced projects that are no longer moving forward. I’m still holding my breath waiting to hear from the team at Arkane Lyon working onBlade. AfterWonder WomanandBlack Panther, I’m not sure I’ve got another superhero game loss in me.
