Obsidian Studios Hit by Xbox Layoffs, 25% of Devs Let Go
Microsoft's mass layoffs had a heavy impact on the Xbox division, with Obsidian Entertainment being one of the affected studios. Roughly 60 to 70 employees, around a quarter of the workforce, have been laid off, including producers, QA testers, artists, and senior talent.
Microsoft's mass layoffs had a heavy impact on the Xbox division, with Obsidian Entertainment being one of the affected studios. Roughly 60 to 70 employees, around a quarter of the workforce, have been laid off, including producers, QA testers, artists, and senior talent.
Kotaku reported that Obsidian Entertainment, known for titles like The Outer Worlds, faced significant cuts as part of Microsoft's broader restructuring. The layoffs affected various roles within the studio, with some employees having been with the company for over a decade.
Despite the layoffs, work on Grounded 2 and planned DLC for The Outer Worlds 2 is set to continue. Obsidian, founded in 2003 and acquired by Microsoft in 2018, has a history of acclaimed titles like Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2.
The future projects beyond the current ones remain uncertain, with the studio focusing on games set in the Avowed universe. The article also mentions that a third installment in The Outer Worlds series is not currently in the works.
Additionally, the Xbox layoffs impacted other studios under Microsoft, including Id Software, Bethesda Game Studios, and ZeniMax. These cuts are part of a larger wave of layoffs, with Microsoft expected to let go of about 3,200 employees throughout the fiscal year.
