Age of Empires developer World’s Edge has been significantly impacted by layoffs at Xbox, losing nearly half its workers, according to the studio’s employees. The developer’s next project has been cancelled, too, as it restructures to operate under Call of Duty maker, Activision.
World’s Edge and several other Microsoft-owned studios were hit with layoffs this week as the Xbox parent continued its efforts to reset its faltering gaming division. Xbox laid off 268 employees across multiple studios as part of its plan to cut 3,200 jobs this fiscal year.
The layoffs have resulted in World’s Edge losing nearly half of its staff, according to a former employee, who posted about the cuts on a Resetera thread (via IGN). Former World’s Edge studio director Adam Isgreen, who was also laid off, said the studio had plans for its next project in place before the latest round of job cuts.
“I am of course disappointed that this is the way the time with World’s Edge and Age ends for myself and many of my talented teammates that were also impacted – we had some great plans for what’s next – and I hope the team that remains can rise to the occasion down the line,” he said in a LinkedIn post.
Studio’s Next Project Cancelled
Andrew Martz, a former senior software engineer at World’s Edge, confirmed in a separate LinkedIn post that the studio’s next project was cancelled as part of its reorganisation under Activision.
It’s unclear what the Age of Empires developer was working on. The studio’s next project under Activision has not been confirmed. In addition to World’s Edge, Activision will also take over Rare, the iconic British game studio which developed Sea of Thieves.
World’s Edge was established in 2019 to work on the Age of Empires franchise at Xbox. Since then, the studio has released definitive edition remasters of Age of Empires II and III, Age of Empires IV, and Age of Mythology: Retold, another remaster of the original Age of Mythology.
