- Halo Studios has reportedly laid off multiple employees just days after the launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved.
- Several developers confirmed their departure on LinkedIn as the remake faces scrutiny over early third-party sales estimates across Xbox, PS5, and Steam.
- Microsoft has not linked the layoffs to the game's performance, and the studio's future restructuring plans remain unclear.
Halo Studios has reportedly been hit by a fresh round of layoffs just days after the launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved. Multiple employees at the Xbox first-party studio have announced on LinkedIn that their time with the company has ended.
While this is happening, Microsoft has yet to comment on the job cuts officially. The reports surfaced about a week after Halo Campaign Evolved launched with mixed reviews on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC. The remake also introduced a fresh Campaign Evolved Trophy list for PlayStation players looking to complete every challenge.
Yes, this marks the first Halo title to release on a PlayStation console. While the timing has drawn attention, Microsoft has not linked the layoffs to the game’s launch or performance. At least some players are exploring Skull locations in Halo Campaign Evolved, despite the numbers being quite low.
Multiple Halo Studios Employees Confirm Their Departure
Several Halo Studios employees first revealed the layoffs through LinkedIn posts. Producer Nick Treitman, who spent more than six years working on the Halo franchise, wrote that he had finally been caught up in a round of layoffs after previously avoiding several others.
“After 6.5 years working on Halo and dodging just as many rounds of layoffs, it has finally caught up to me.”
Paul Morris, who worked as a Scrum Master at Halo Studios as a contractor, also confirmed that his role had come to an end following the successful launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved. Meanwhile, software engineer Caleb Lawrence updated his LinkedIn profile to indicate that he is now looking for new opportunities, suggesting he was also affected by the reported layoffs.
The reported layoffs also come as Halo: Campaign Evolved faces questions about its early commercial performance. Sales estimates from analytics firm Alinea Analytics suggest the Halo Campaign remake has sold around 900,000 copies on Xbox. The numbers are lower: 452,000 on PS5 and 212,000 on Steam since launch. So, despite giving away free skins through Halo Waypoint codes, the numbers look a little stale.
While the estimated sales have sparked discussion across the Halo community, they should be viewed in context. Halo: Campaign Evolved is a remake of a 25-year-old game without a multiplayer mode. So its early numbers may not reflect the performance of a brand new Halo release.
At the time of writing, neither Microsoft nor Halo Studios has issued an official statement regarding the reported layoffs. This marks another round of reported job cuts affecting Xbox studios following Microsoft’s broader workforce reductions announced earlier this year.
Whether Halo Studios will see additional restructuring remains unclear until Microsoft provides further details. What are your thoughts on Halo Studios layoffs as Campaign Evolved struggles to sell copies? Let us know in the comments.
