Xbox Cuts, BioWare Closes, Modern Warfare 4 Removes Itaewon Footage
The week’s defining stories include continued workforce cuts across the games industry, BioWare’s closure and reports that EA chose a new Star Wars: Battlefront game over Mass Effect 5, alongside Activision’s decision to remove real Itaewon footage from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 +2. S-Game’s Phantom Blade Zero also launches on PC and PS5, drawing more than 430,000 concurrent Steam players, as Microsoft reports a 14% year-over-year drop in Xbox hardware revenue
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Microsoft Cuts and Studio Closures Reshape the Games Industry
Microsoft offers voluntary exit packages to 60,000 employees—about a quarter of its workforce—as Xbox reductions continue after earlier rounds of cuts . Microsoft’s FY27 Q1 results also show Xbox hardware revenue down 14% year over year, with CEO Asha Sharma saying supply constraints leave demand above the number of available consoles
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Reports put Sucker Punch’s layoffs at 24 to 26 employees, while Auroch Digital plans to cut about a quarter of its staff +2. Don’t Nod is restructuring amid insolvency risk and employee accusations of illegal management practices, while Raw Power Games says the loss of funding puts its studio at risk of closure
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Arkane Lyon receives another month to seek a buyer, as Microsoft also explores partner support for the studio’s development of Marvel’s Blade +1. BioWare closes amid 400 layoffs across EA, with most of the studio’s roughly 50 remaining employees laid off and a Mass Effect project cancelled
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Later reports say EA chose to prioritize a new Star Wars: Battlefront game over Mass Effect 5, describing the decision as a main factor in BioWare’s closure while noting other factors also contributed +1. A petition asking EA to save Mass Effect passes 223,000 signatures
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The week also brings a union vote at Rockstar Games: UK employees are scheduled to vote on recognition for the IWGB Rockstar Game Workers Union from November 12 to 26, a period that overlaps with the Grand Theft Auto VI launch window .
Activision Removes Itaewon Footage From Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
Activision says it will remove real footage of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and apologizes to victims’ families after they object to its use in the game’s opening sequence +1.
Phantom Blade Zero Launches on PC and PS5 as The Duskbloods Slips
S-Game launches Phantom Blade Zero on PC and PS5, where the game draws more than 430,000 concurrent players on Steam in its first hours . Its day-one update brings performance improvements and includes a warning for Nvidia drivers
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FromSoftware moves its Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods from 2026 to 2027, citing final adjustments to game rules and balancing; the studio has not set a specific release date .
Nintendo Switch 2 Gets a Pikmin 4 Edition Date as Witchbrook Targets 2027
Pikmin 4 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition launches November 12 with a new Dandori Academy mode, and a demo is due November 2 . Chucklefish’s Witchbrook is scheduled to launch January 28, 2027, on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 and PS5, and is also listed for Xbox Game Pass
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Pokémon Unite Sets Its March 2027 Shutdown
The Pokémon Company and TiMi Studio Group will end Pokémon Unite service on Nintendo Switch and mobile devices on March 23, 2027; in-game sales have already ended . A planned library feature will let users access some of the game’s content after the shutdown
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The Elder Scrolls VI Reportedly Targets a November Title Reveal
Bethesda is reportedly preparing a title reveal for The Elder Scrolls VI as soon as November, with reports naming the game The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel .