Microsoft has announced another wave of layoffs, starting with its European-based King subsidiary, the company behind Candy Crush. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft cut King staff by 10% (roughly 200 jobs), with an estimated 9,000 cuts across all of Microsoft by the end of day. Amid these layoffs, Jason Schreier reports that Rare’s troubled-but-anticipated game Everwild has also been cancelled.
In addition to King, ZeniMax Studios, Rare, and Raven Software have also announced reductions in workforce numbers. According to one source, Turn 10, the developer of Forza Motorsport, has lost nearly half its staff. Social media posts indicate several other studios have also been affected, including Halo Studios.
Spencer said that affected employees who apply for other positions within the company will be given priority review. This is the fourth wave of layoffs at Xbox within the last 18 months. The company has laid off more than 10,000 people since 2023. Nearly 2,000 people were affected in February 2024, with another 650 cuts in September 2024.
July’s layoffs follow the loss of 6,000 positions in May. Microsoft Gaming Chief Executive Officer Phil Spencer sent an email to staff (as transcribed by Bloomberg): “To position Gaming for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness.”
Everwild was described as “a brand new IP from Rare,” and many fans waited eagerly for its release since its announcement in 2019. However, little information has emerged since that time, with a report in 2021 announcing that development had restarted. In February 2025, Phil Spencer confirmed Everwild was still in development.
Everwild has been in development for more than a decade. The reasons for its cancellation are unclear, but the mysterious game has had a troubled development cycle with little to show for it in all this time.
In addition, Schreier reports that the upcoming MMORPG from ZeniMax Online Studios, codenamed Blackbird, has also been cancelled as part of these layoffs. Blackbird has been in development since 2018 and was rumored to be the next major name in the MMO space, following ZeniMax Online Studio’s better-known Elder Scrolls Online.
The Perfect Dark reboot is another victim of the layoffs with the closing of its development studio, The Initiative.
This story is still developing. We will update throughout the day as more information comes in.
