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Following Xbox\u2019s publicly issued \u201creset\u201d memo<\/u>, it was clear that Microsoft\u2019s gaming wing was gearing up for even more lay-offs and studio closures. As of right now, the reality of the situation is being told through leaks and reports. While Xbox has yet to make a statement, it appears that three studios are in negotiations regarding their future: Compulsion<\/u>, Ninja Theory, and Double Fine.<\/u> There is a very real chance that all three of these development studios will be shut down. There\u2019s also a very real chance that they are not the only ones facing a fight for survival. <\/p>\n
Many players are, understandably, not too familiar with the studios that make their favourite games. If you don\u2019t follow the world of games closely, when there\u2019s news of studio closures, the first questions are naturally \u201cWhich Xbox games are shutting down? Which Xbox games are cancelled?\u201d That\u2019s where this list comes in: we\u2019ve made it crystal clear which games are being impacted by Xbox\u2019s current business decisions. Take a look through, find your favourite game or franchise, and we\u2019ll let you know how things are looking. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Microsoft\u2019s classic real-time strategy series, Age of Empires, is currently developed by World\u2019s Edge Studio<\/strong>. The developer\u2019s current project, the Raiders of the North expansion<\/u> for Age of Empires 4<\/u>, was announced as part of June\u2019s Xbox Games Showcase and is due to launch later this year. So far, there are no reports that suggest World\u2019s Edge Studio is in danger of being shuttered. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fantasy RPG Avowed<\/u> launched early 2025 to solid enough reviews but it failed to meet sales targets. While that can put studios in a dangerous position, developer <\/u>Obsidian Entertainment<\/strong><\/u> reportedly still has plans for the world of Eora<\/u>. That could mean a sequel to Avowed, or it could mean a return to Pillars of Eternity \u2013 the duology of isometric RPGs that first introduced the setting. While there\u2019s no official statement to point us in the right direction, both are theoretically viable \u2013 Avowed\u2019s design taps into widespread hunger for Elder Scrolls-like games, while a third Pillars of Eternity could prove exceptionally popular thanks to the surge of CRPG popularity following Baldur\u2019s Gate 3.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The fantastic-looking steampunk RPG, Clockwork Revolution<\/u>, is being developed by inXile Entertainment<\/strong>, the studio that previously created Wasteland 3. Xbox recently announced that Clockwork Revolution will be an Xbox exclusive<\/u> as part of the company\u2019s re-commitment to console exclusives, and so it seems unlikely that a major piece of Xbox\u2019s plan to please its existing community and build a dedicated customer base would be jettisoned. Currently, there are no reports that indicate inXile Entertainment is planned to be closed. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The ambitious reboot of Fable<\/u> is being crafted by a team at Playground Games<\/strong>. While it is a multi-platform game in development for Xbox, PC, and PS5, it is nonetheless a key part of Xbox\u2019s plan of focusing on its core popular franchises. Fable was beloved in the 360 era, and Xbox will be banking on a lovingly-crafted reboot to sell well and earn fans. Playground Games seems to be in no danger, not least because it also develops another popular Xbox franchise\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Playground Games<\/strong> is split into two development teams: one working on Fable, and the other dedicated to the Forza Horizon series. That latter team only just shipped Forza Horizon 6<\/u>, and will now be hard at work keeping it updated and flush with new content. It\u2019s also not unlikely that part of the Forza Horizon team will already be thinking beyond Horizon 6 to what lies in the franchise\u2019s future. Horizon is a key pillar of Xbox, and while the distance between games is growing ever longer (it took five years to create FH6, compared to the three years it took to make FH5, and the two years all prior installments took) as of now, we\u2019re expecting there to be a new game on the distant horizon, so to speak. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n While the Forza Horizon series has gone from strength to strength over its almost 15-year lifespan, its parent franchise, Forza Motorsport, developed by Turn 10<\/strong>, fell into decline over the same period. Historically the two sides of Forza traded places, with the more arcade-like Horizon games arriving between installments of the hardcore driving sim Motorsport games. Following the lackluster launch of 2023\u2019s Forza Motorsport<\/u>, Turn 10 have since been assigned to aid Playground Games with the Horizon series<\/u>, and Forza Motorsport as a franchise has ceased production. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n If Xbox\u2019s brand colour wasn\u2019t green, it\u2019d probably be red \u2013 so synonymous is the blood-splattered Gears of War with Microsoft\u2019s gaming division. While the series was originally created for the Xbox 360 by Epic Games, Gears is now developed by one of Xbox\u2019s own studios, The Coalition<\/strong>. Its latest project is Gears of War: E-Day<\/u>, set to launch this October. As announced at the recent Xbox Games Showcase, it will be an Xbox console exclusive<\/u>, and thus marks a significant step in Xbox\u2019s big plan: its mini experiment in multi-platform releases is (sort of)<\/u> over, and E-Day will stay on Gears\u2019 home turf. While Gears 4 and 5 don\u2019t have the reputation of the original trilogy, the series is generally quite popular, and so The Coalition seems to be in a safe spot. Gears will continue. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Currently in early access, Grounded 2<\/u> is an unusual project for developer Obsidian Entertainment<\/strong>. This team is best-known for its RPGs, having developed Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and more recently The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed. But while multiplayer survival isn\u2019t a major part of the studio\u2019s history, Grounded 2 has been a hit. Much like its predecessor, it\u2019s a comparatively cheaper project than the heavy lifts Obsidian\u2019s RPGs are. While there are questions around the developer\u2019s other projects<\/u>, Grounded 2 and Obsidian appear to be safe. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The idea of Xbox without Halo is unthinkable. And yet, for the past few years, Halo has felt endangered. Halo Infinite<\/u> was not the mega-hit Xbox would have been hoping for, both in terms of reception to its open-world campaign and the longevity of its free-to-play multiplayer. Developer 343 Industries would later be a victim<\/u> of Microsoft\u2019s brutal restructuring in 2023<\/u>, with many staff laid off. This seems to have been a trigger point for something of a reset for the Master Chief – 343i was rebranded as <\/u>Halo Studios<\/strong><\/u>, the studio\u2019s bespoke Slipspace Engine was retired in favour of Unreal Engine 5, and the next game in the series is a remake of the very first Halo<\/u>, now dubbed \u201cCampaign Evolved.\u201d So while Halo has experienced troubles, it seems like we can expect Xbox to still push forward with the Master Chief. The green Spartan is safe for now. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the world\u2019s best-selling, most enduringly popular games, Minecraft<\/u> from developer Mojang Studios<\/strong> seems in no danger at all. The original game continues to go strong, with a detailed roadmap for 2026<\/u> and another spin-off on the way \u2013 this September will see the launch of ARPG Minecraft Dungeons 2<\/u>, made in collaboration between Mojang and Double Eleven. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last year saw the launch of sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds 2<\/u>. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment<\/strong>, it followed in the footsteps of its predecessor, which in turn followed in the footsteps of Obsidian\u2019s own Fallout: New Vegas \u2013 a satirical role-playing game with lots of interesting choices, fantastic writing, memorable companions, and wild weaponry. Unfortunately, The Outer Worlds 2 failed to meet Xbox\u2019s sales goals<\/u>, and so it will be the final game in the series. The Outer Worlds is over as a running series, although Obsidian Entertainment as a studio thankfully remains in operation. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Developer Double Fine Productions<\/strong> is known for many creative and quirky games, including last year\u2019s brilliant lighthouse adventure Keeper<\/u>, 360-era metal cult classic Brutal Legend<\/u>, and remasters of beloved point-and-click games Full Throttle<\/u> and Grim Fandango<\/u>. These are the games that have made the studio one of my personal favourites. However, perhaps its most iconic output is Psychonauts<\/u> \u2013 a duology (with a couple of spin-offs) that started waaay back in 2005 on the original Xbox and finally continued in 2021 with the long-awaited sequel<\/u>. Unfortunately, the future of Psychonauts and all of Double Fine\u2019s games \u2013 including the recently released multiplayer game Kiln<\/u> \u2013 is reportedly on the line, as it is one of three Xbox studios believed to be facing closure<\/u>. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The recently announced Senua<\/u> marks the continuation of the Hellblade series in all but name. This gritty tale of a psychosis-suffering celtic warrior has been running since 2017, and is developer Ninja Theory<\/strong>\u2019s most enduring series, despite poor performance in terms of copies sold and failing to crack Game Pass\u2019 top 10 during its second game’s launch window<\/u>. Yet despite having only just revealed Senua, Ninja Theory is now one of the three Xbox studios facing closure<\/u>. Reports suggest that Senua was announced because Xbox believed \u201cthe promise of a newly announced game would help draw investor interest in the studio.\u201d<\/u> It\u2019s currently unclear if an investor will buy Ninja Theory, and thus allow development on Senua to continue. As it stands, we may never see the game completed and released. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2025\u2019s bayou-set adventure game, South of Midnight, had stunning art direction and received solid enough reviews, but it seemed to fly under the radar. That\u2019s not an unusual situation for Canadian studio Compulsion Games<\/strong> \u2013 its previous title, BioShock-ish survival game We Happy Few, never quite set the world alight in the way its initial trailer suggested it had the potential to. And its debut game, Contrast, is perhaps better remembered for being the very first PS4 game included in PlayStation Plus than for its own achievements. Unfortunately, such a history seems to have put the studio in danger: it is one of the three developers reportedly planned for closure<\/u>. While we didn\u2019t expect a sequel to South of Midnight, since all of Compulsion’s games have been original creations, this does mean there\u2019s little chance of the studio creating something new. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The third State of Decay game has been a long time coming. Developer Undead Labs<\/strong> has been working on it for at least six years \u2013 it was announced at the Xbox Games Showcase in 2020<\/u>, two years after State of Decay 2 launched. Only this year did we get to see a gameplay trailer<\/u>, and those years of radio silence could convince anyone that State of Decay 3<\/u> was stuck in development hell, and thus Undead Labs was in danger of shut down. However, there have been no reports to suggest the studio is facing closure, and State of Decay 3 is still expected to launch in 2027<\/u> on Xbox, PC, and PS5. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For 33 years, id Software<\/strong> has been developing the Doom series, and it seems in no danger of stopping. It announced a new expansion for Doom: The Dark Ages<\/u> at the Xbox Games Showcase \u2013 called Revelations, launching July 7 \u2013 and there\u2019s no sign that the studio is in danger of being shuttered. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Developed by Zenimax Online Studios<\/strong>, The Elder Scrolls Online is Bethesda\u2019s long-running MMO. Over its 12 year lifespan so far, it has received eight major expansions and countless updates, with the latest being a season focused on the Thieves Guild<\/u>. While it had a somewhat rocky start, TESO eventually settled into being a beloved online haunt for Elder Scrolls fans, and the developers hope it will last for over 30 years<\/u>. Zenimax Online Studios was a victim of Microsoft\u2019s 2025 layoffs, which cancelled a new project it was working on and saw the exit of boss Matt Firor<\/u>, but currently there is nothing to suggest the studio or TESO is in danger of shut down. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The jewel in Bethesda\u2019s crown, The Elder Scrolls likely has little to worry about when it comes to cancellation. Developed by Bethesda Game Studios<\/strong>, the studio at the heart of Xbox\u2019s Bethesda Softworks wing, the series became an unstoppable force during the era of Skyrim, and so fans eagerly await The Elder Scrolls 6. Xbox knows that TES6 is primed to be one of the biggest games of all time, and so will likely do everything it can to ensure it finally arrives. Recent reports have suggested that new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is looking to speed up development of The Elder Scrolls<\/u>. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Second only to The Elder Scrolls is Bethesda Games Studios<\/strong>\u2019 other open-world RPG series, Fallout. It\u2019s been a long time since the developer launched a single-player entry \u2013 Fallout 4 is a decade old now \u2013 but its multiplayer survival spin-off, Fallout 76, still goes strong with regular updates. Both Elder Scrolls and Fallout are reportedly of particular interest to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma<\/u>, and so we can expect the post-nuclear roleplaying game to play a major role in Xbox\u2019s future. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Following in the footsteps of PlayStation, which has its Spider-Man and Wolverine games, Xbox is getting in on the Marvel action with Blade. First announced back in 2023<\/u>, we\u2019ve heard not a single thing about it since. For some, that\u2019s a reason to worry – Blade is being developed by Arkane Studios<\/strong>, the creators of Dishonored and Deathloop. Arkane\u2019s games are typically critical darlings that struggle to find large audiences, and so there\u2019s always the fear that the studio will be closed down. Such fears are not unfounded – Arkane was once made up of two studios, one in Lyon, France and the other in Austin, Texas, but the Austin branch was shuttered in 2024<\/u>. There is, thankfully, no report to suggest that the Lyon studio is due to meet the same fate. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Developer MachineGames<\/strong> has a strong history with games about fighting Nazis. It was assembled to develop the rebooted Wolfenstein series, of which it has made two mainline entries plus a co-op spin-off. Its latest work, however, is the equally fantastic Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. While so far unconfirmed by official sources, it\u2019s believed that MachineGames is currently developing Wolfenstein 3<\/u>. It is also working with Amazon MGM Studios to create a Wolfenstein TV show<\/u>. All that considered, it seems the future of the studio and Wolfenstein is safe. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Between ongoing support for Diablo 2: Resurrected and continual updates and expansions for Diablo 4, Blizzard<\/strong>\u2019s gothic ARPG series is probably in the best position it has ever been. A 25 year old game has a brand new class<\/u>, and the Lord of Hatred expansion brings Diablo 4\u2019s story to a satisfying conclusion<\/u>. It seems safe to assume for now that Blizzard\u2019s Diablo team will keep the fires of hell well stoked. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Overwatch’s Season 3: Into the Tiger’s Den<\/u> has just launched, bolstering Blizzard<\/strong>\u2019s competitive FPS with even more content. Overwatch has undeniably had a rocky life, starting 10 years ago as a genuine phenomenon and contender for best online shooter of all time, and then spending years struggling to evolve through a misguided sequel and shifts to its core composition. But right now, it is in perhaps its best position since those early halcyon days. You can expect Blizzard to keep Overwatch live and kicking with new heroes and ideas. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n World of Warcraft has been trucking along for over 20 years now, and Blizzard<\/strong> seems in no way ready to send its genre-defining MMO out to pasture any time soon. The Midnight Revelations update<\/u> just dropped, and the main Midnight expansion arrived earlier this year. That expansion is also the middle chapter of the three-part \u201cWorldsoul Saga\u201d, which began in 2024 with The War Within and is expected to end with The Last Titan. Based on typical expansion cadence, it seems sensible to expect that in 2028. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n While Xbox\u2019s repeated shutting down of studios means it can often feel that any of its games are at risk of cancellation, there is at least one series that feels practically immortal: Call of Duty. Developed by Activision\u2019s army of FPS studios, there has been a COD game every year for over two decades. 2026 will be no different, with the launch of Modern Warfare 4 in October. While the Call of Duty studios have not been immune to layoffs in the past<\/u>, the core studios that develop the series \u2013 Infinity Ward<\/strong>, Treyarch<\/strong> and Raven Software<\/strong> \u2013 are all still operational, as are the many support studios that aid them in the monolithic task of creating annual installments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Following Xbox\u2019s publicly issued \u201creset\u201d memo, it was clear that Microsoft\u2019s gaming wing was gearing up for even more lay-offs and studio closures. As of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[9783,321,162],"class_list":["post-62343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-cancelled","tag-games","tag-xbox","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Avowed – SAFE(ISH)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Clockwork Revolution – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Fable – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Forza Horizon – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Forza Motorsport – CANCELLED<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Gears of War – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Grounded 2 – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Halo – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Minecraft – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Outer Worlds – CANCELLED<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Psychonauts – AT RISK<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Senua \/ Hellblade – AT RISK<\/strong><\/h3>\n
South of Midnight – AT RISK<\/strong><\/h3>\n
State of Decay 3 – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Bethesda Softworks<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Doom – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Elder Scrolls Online – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Elder Scrolls – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Fallout – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Marvel\u2019s Blade – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Wolfenstein – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Blizzard Entertainment<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Diablo – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Overwatch – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
World of Warcraft – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Activision<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Call of Duty – SAFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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