Halo Studios, the developer behind the recently released Halo: Campaign Evolved, has been impacted by layoffs, with several employees announcing their departures on LinkedIn. This development comes despite the game receiving significant critical praise, with outlets like VGC awarding it a perfect 10/10 score and Game Informer giving it an 8.5/10. Critics lauded the remake for its superb update and rebuild of the original game's strengths, with some suggesting it offers reason for optimism regarding the series' future.
Among those affected is Nick Treitman, a producer on Campaign Evolved and the product owner for Halo Infinite's social multiplayer. Treitman noted that after 6.5 years working on Halo, he had "dodged just as many rounds of layoffs" before finally being impacted, expressing his love for the franchise and its team while acknowledging the difficult reality of the current gaming industry job market. Paul Morris, a scrum master with over two years at the studio, also confirmed his departure following the game's successful launch. Software engineer Caleb Lawrence, who worked on Campaign Evolved, has also made his availability for new work known on LinkedIn.
These layoffs at Halo Studios occur less than a month after Xbox announced a broader plan to lay off over 3,200 employees across all its studios gradually over the next year, until July 2027. It remains undetermined whether further staff reductions will affect Halo Studios. However, given that remakes of Halo 2 and likely Halo 3 have been strongly suggested, Xbox appears to be maintaining its strategy of revisiting older titles in the series.