Microsoft Casual Games
Company
5 documents in the library are about Microsoft Casual Games, from writers such as Game File, Hit Points and Mobilegamer.biz. Each has a summary and key insights with the page they come from.
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Documents about Microsoft Casual Games
Weekly Industry Round-up: Games on Instagram, King Strikes, and Beta Updates
This weekly mobile games newsletter, dated September 25, 2026, rounds up the week's top stories and uses Meta's Horizon Create announcement as its central editorial theme.
- Meta announced 'Horizon Create,' an app allowing users to generate and publish games directly to Instagram and Facebook platforms.
- King has avoided recent Microsoft/Xbox layoffs and successfully averted planned strikes by reaching an agreement with Swedish labor unions.
- Supercell’s monster-hunting title 'Mo.co' has returned to beta testing in a 'low maintenance' mode as the development team continues to iterate on features.
The Reverse Acquisition of Xbox
Xbox's latest restructuring, announced in September 2026, amounts to a reverse acquisition in which the publishers Microsoft bought now run the studios it built.
- Xbox is undergoing a major restructuring that consolidates its first-party studios under its acquired publishers, with Activision taking over Halo development, Bethesda absorbing Obsidian, and King managing Microsoft Casual Games.
- The restructuring follows a broader reduction of 3,200 roles announced in July 2026, with the most recent update confirming 268 additional layoffs centered on Halo Studios and management layers.
- Xbox’s first-party gaming revenue saw a significant shift after the Activision Blizzard acquisition, jumping from under $2 billion annually through 2019 to $13.7 billion in 2025, effectively overtaking third-party revenue.
Deckchairs on the Titanic
Nathan Brown's Hit Points newsletter (issue #398, September 2026) is a scathing opinion piece on Microsoft's latest Xbox restructuring, which he argues is a cosmetic reshuffle rather than a real strategy.
- Microsoft has initiated a major restructuring of its Xbox division, resulting in 268 additional layoffs and the consolidation of several business units under Activision.
- The company aims to reach a total of 3,200 layoffs for the current fiscal year, with approximately 800 more job cuts expected to follow the 1,600 positions eliminated in July.
- Key organizational changes include folding Halo Studios, Rare, and World’s Edge into Activision, merging Turn10 with Playground Games, and placing Obsidian under Bethesda’s management.
Microsoft Makes Big Cuts at Halo Studios, Shifts Franchise to Activision
Microsoft's gaming division announced another round of layoffs and a sweeping reorganization on September 22, 2026, marking a continued transformation of its Xbox business.
- Microsoft is laying off 268 employees, primarily from Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) and Xbox Games Studio management, as part of a broader 3,200-person workforce reduction announced in July.
- Development of the next Halo game is moving to Activision, where a newly assembled team will lead production and publishing, while Halo Studios shifts to a caretaker and support role.
- The potential sale of Ninja Theory has fallen through, leaving the studio at risk of closure and subject to a formal consultation process.
Bobby Kotick to Leave Activision Blizzard on Dec. 29
Bobby Kotick, the long-serving CEO of Activision Blizzard, is scheduled to depart the company on December 29, 2023.
- Bobby Kotick will step down as CEO of Activision Blizzard on December 29, 2023, following Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of the company.
- Activision Blizzard's leadership team, including the heads of Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, and King, will now report directly to Matt Booty, the President of Game Content and Studios at Microsoft.
- The CEO role at Activision Blizzard will not be filled; instead, the company is being integrated into the broader Microsoft Gaming organizational structure.
