Halo’s Next Game Is Coming From An Unexpected Developer: Activision

Microsoft has officially announced a major change to its Halo franchise, as Activision will develop the next game in the series with a new, purpose-built team. A small team at Halo Studios will continue to support the Halo community and existing games. The new studio will also exist separately from the group of developers that work on the annual Call of Duty series. Unfortunately, it's bad news for Halo Studios, as Microsoft has confirmed that it will be impacted by a new wave of layoffs that it had previously announced. In total, 268 people will be laid off across Halo Studios, other Xbox developers, and Xbox Game Studios management. As reported earlier today, studios are also being reorganized under Microsoft's biggest acquisitions, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. "The goal is to strengthen our franchises and games by operating fewer business units, aligning groups that already work closely together, and focusing our publishing expertise," Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty wrote in a letter sent to Xbox employees. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LimYD3Ycwo Alongside Halo Studios, World's Edge (Age of Empires series) and Rare (Sea of Thieves) will also fall under the Activ…