The story director for Gears of War: E-Day, Juan Vaca, has been laid off from developer The Coalition as part of recent Xbox cuts. Vaca announced his departure on LinkedIn, stating he is "open to new opportunities in games/film/tv."
Vaca had been with The Coalition since 2022 and had celebrated Gears of War: E-Day reaching gold status just five days prior to his layoff announcement. The game is scheduled for release on October 6.
It remains unclear how many other developers at The Coalition were impacted by these layoffs. An anonymous source familiar with the situation suggested to Kotaku that fewer than a handful of developers were affected, and that these layoffs were unrelated to Xbox's broader restructuring efforts.
These cuts at The Coalition are part of a larger wave of changes across Xbox, which saw 268 employees laid off. Studios such as Rare and World's Edge have been integrated under Activision. Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios are merging to focus on Fable and Forza, respectively. Obsidian Entertainment, currently developing a new Fallout game, now reports to Bethesda.
Additionally, Halo Studios has been significantly downsized, with future Halo game development shifting to Activision. Ninja Theory is also facing closure following the collapse of potential ownership deals.