The latest wave of layoffs at Xbox has significantly impacted World's Edge Studio, the developer responsible for the Age of Empires series. Reports indicate that nearly half of the studio's staff was let go, and a planned upcoming project has been canceled.
Former World's Edge creative director Adam Isgreen confirmed on the Resetera forums that he was among those laid off. "What a morning," Isgreen posted. "FYI World's Edge was not spared completely—just under half the studio was let go—myself included. Been fun, y'all!" He also noted that World's Edge is now reporting to Activision, alongside Rare, the developer of Sea of Thieves.
Andrew Martz, a former senior software engineer at World's Edge, shared on LinkedIn that "as part of that reorg, our next project was canceled and a large chunk of our studio was laid off. I was part of that layoff." Martz reflected on his time with the studio, expressing pride in the work done on the Age of Empires series and its contribution to the genre's resurgence.
Isgreen further elaborated in a LinkedIn post about his tenure working on the real-time strategy franchise. "I didn't think I'd be working on RTS games again years after their first 'heyday,' but am I ever proud of what our studio team and partners were able to do with the series and juice the genre's return," he stated. "I think the fans would agree (mostly!) that we delivered the goods for all of 'em."
This restructuring marks another difficult period for developers under Microsoft's Xbox umbrella. The article notes that this situation echoes Microsoft's past treatment of studios like id Software and others earlier this year, suggesting a pattern of prioritizing consolidation over preserving established development teams and their projects. The decision to cancel World's Edge's next game and cut its staff has been described as particularly baffling, especially given the studio's recent contributions to the Age of Empires franchise.