Microsoft laid off about 4% of its workforce (more than 9,000 employees) last week, with the company’s gaming division being particularly hard hit. The Xbox parent company has cut jobs at multiple first-party studios and canceled several projects, including the Perfect Dark reboot. More details about Xbox’s latest round of layoffs have emerged, detailing the impact on Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 Studios and Ireland’s Romero Games. The Forza Motorsport team has reportedly been laid off, while Romero Games is shutting down entirely, according to former staff at the studio.
Forza Racing Team “No More”
Turn 10 Studios, which is responsible for the Forza series, and several other studios were reportedly affected by the latest round of layoffs last week. Following the layoffs, former Turn 10 employee Fred Russell claimed the studio lost its entire Forza Motorsport team.
“Turn 10 Studios has closed the Forza Motorsport space and the team no longer exists,” Russell said in a Facebook post on Friday. “It’s a very sad day for one of the best racing games out there. I loved my time there.”
Russell replied in the comments section of the post that the Forza Horizon series, helmed by British developer Playground Games, is the arcade racing series counterpart to Forza. “The horizon will continue…for now,” Russell said.
Russell said that Turn 10 is open to support development of the Forza Horizon series, with only the Forza Motorsport portion closed. His post suggested Microsoft wouldn’t make more Forza games, calling the future of the iconic racing sim into question. “Even if the sport doesn’t have a future, the legacy will remain,” Russell said.
Romero’s match ends
In addition to Turn 10 Studios, Ireland-based Romero Games, founded by industry legends John and Brenda Romero, is reportedly closing due to layoffs. Romero Games confirmed last week that it had lost funding for the project and was evaluating its next steps.
An unnamed Romero Games employee told the Wall Street Journal that all of the studio’s employees, more than 100 employees, have lost their jobs.
“We had a meeting with the publisher the day before this happened but did not mention it,” the Wall Street Journal quoted the staff member as saying in a report published Friday.
“We are working to find other ways to fund the project,” the employee said. “But at the moment, it is completely closed and the studios are closed,” they added.
Romero Games is developing a first-person shooter and several other unannounced projects, with Microsoft reportedly serving as publisher. The company has reportedly canceled funding for Romero Games projects following the latest round of layoffs.
Xbox last week did not confirm the full impact on its studios and projects, but said it would “end or reduce” work in certain areas of the business. In an email to Xbox employees last week, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty confirmed that the Perfect Dark reboot and Rare’s Everwild were canceled, along with other unannounced projects. He also confirmed that Perfect Dark developer The Initiative will be shutting down.
However, Bloomberg reported that the layoffs affected multiple Xbox-owned studios, including “Candy Crush” developer King, “Call of Duty” developers Raven Software and Sledgehammer Games, and Halo developers Halo Studios and Turn 10 Studios.
Turn 10 has dominated the Forza series since launching on the original Xbox in 2005. The studio released the eighth game in the Forza series in 2023.
