A unknown number of contract roles at Halo Studios have been eliminated following the launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved.
A source familiar with the situation told Game Developer a number of employees have departed as a result of external contractor shifts. It’s understood that no full-time workers have been laid off. Even so, posts from those impacted indicate multiple long-serving contractors have been jettisoned.
“After 6.5 years working on Halo and dodging just as many rounds of layoffs—it has finally caught up to me. I have nothing but love for Halo and the folks at the studio, this is just a tough reality in the gaming industry right now,” reads a LinkedIn post from one person impacted by the decision.
“Today, I learned my time at Halo Studios will be coming to an end following the successful launch of our latest game, Halo: Campaign Evolved,” said another person who served as a ‘scrum master’ at Halo Studios for over two years.
Halo: Campaign Evolved launched on July 28, 2026, across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation platforms. The shooter is a remake of the original Halo campaign that features expanded story content.
The changes at Halo Studios come around a month after Microsoft confirmed it would be cutting 3,200 roles across Xbox before the end of the current fiscal year in order to “reset” its flagging video game business.
The decision resulted in Microsoft parting ways with notable studios including Double Fine, Compulsion, and Ninja Theory, while also making significant layoffs across subsidiaries such as Obsidian, id Software, and ZeniMax Online Studios.
Game Developer has reached out to Microsoft for comment.