Microsoft cuts hundreds of Xbox jobs, shifts Halo franchise to Activision

In the long arc of corporate empires, even the most iconic symbols of identity are eventually subject to reorganization. Microsoft has announced sweeping layoffs across its Xbox division and transferred stewardship of Halo — the franchise that gave Xbox its soul — to Activision Blizzard, the Call of Duty publisher it acquired in 2023. The moves, framed as a strategic reset, reflect the mounting pressure on Microsoft to justify the enormous capital it has poured into gaming, and they arrive at a cost measured not only in dollars but in the livelihoods of hundreds of workers across Washington st