The last week for Xbox and Microsoft has been incredibly turbulent. Around 9,000 layoffs around the business with many Xbox Game Studios hit hard. The Initiative who were setup to create the Perfect Dark reboot were closed, with the project cancelled. Everwild at Rare was also canned, although how far in development it actually ever really was, is unknown.
Other affected studios include Turn 10 who lost around 50% of their staff. Even Halo Studios, creating the next iteration in the cornerstone Xbox franchise seen staff forcefully depart.
The ripple effects continue as more news comes to light. Romero Games, the studio founded by DOOM creator, John Romero lost funding for its current project from Microsoft. Though, the project may live on if further funding is found.
That said, this is not the first round of layoffs and cancellations from Xbox. In only May last year, Xbox closed Redfall developer, Arkane Austin; as well as Tango Gameworks who had only recently released critical darling, Hi-Fi Rush. At the time, these were studios who they'd only acquired a matter of years earlier. Whilst Redfall was something of a disaster launch, shutting a one-time great studio who had developed modern classic series, Dishonored seemed a rash decision.
I'm comfortable in predicting that the recent round of layoffs and cancellations will not be the last as the video game industry continues to eat itself alive.
A wider implication of all of this news is trust - trust in a brand and trust in the people that represent that brand. Xbox once had a consistent, likeable and trustworthy mouthpiece in Larry Hyrb, aka Major Nelson and they could really do with him back at his desk.
Trust Issues
Gamers have become tired of industry executives talking to the camera about how their consumers are number one. False and broken promises, shifting narratives in the industry and more has severely eroded gamers' trust in the first and third-party publishers.
Gamers are aware that the industry is shifting, publishers are chasing trends and taking market share is now as much about taking live-service game players, as it is about selling copies of games. We know that around "more than 40 percent of all playtime in the US in January across those consoles (Xbox and PlayStation) was spent on those same 10 live-service games" (credit: well-regarded analyst, Mat Piscatella).

Much has been written about last weeks Xbox news, particularly in regard to how they handled the situation. Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming was once a lauded senior industry figure, largely owed to the fact that he is a genuine gamer. However, his tone-deaf statement on the layoffs has incited much online animosity to the situation: "I recognize that these changes come at a time when we have more players, games, and gaming hours than ever before. Our platform, hardware, and game roadmap have never looked stronger. The success we're seeing currently is based on tough decisions we've made previously. We must make choices now for continued success in future years and a key part of that strategy is the discipline to prioritize the strongest opportunities."
Announcing financial wins whilst destroying many thousands of people's livelihoods simply reeks of executive-level ignorance and immortality.
Major Nelson
Xbox gamers who have been around since the 360 or One eras will very likely know "˜Xbox Live's Major Nelson', real name Larry Hyrb. Larry was the omnipresent mouthpiece of the company across social and other media. A warm and relatable character, Hyrb was always someone who you could tell loved their role at the company - engaging with fans, being at the forefront of console and game releases and generally being the guy you know would bring you Xbox updates in a clear no-BS way.
Serving Xbox through the good (Xbox 360) and bad (Xbox One) eras, Major Nelson was a unique individual mouthpiece that Sony and Nintendo didn't have. Xbox's two big competitors kept their messaging to be from executive level representatives, which is what Xbox now does.
Whilst Phil Spencer - and to a lesser extent Sarah Bond - are clearly passionate about bringing games to gamers, Larry Hyrb cared about Xbox gamers as individuals. In a freezing cold New York ahead of the Xbox One launch, Hyrb was on the street handing out blankets to people lined up to spend many hundreds of dollars on their new console.

Someone who was forever "˜up for it', Major Nelson was always the guy you'd see generating something Xbox struggles to do these days - hype. At every single Xbox event, you would see him engaging in the crowd in a way that executive level people at all major publishers struggle to do. He played a part in making Xbox "˜cool' during the 360 era as the gaming industry grew significantly.

The host of Major Nelson Radio, one of gaming's earliest and long-living gaming podcasts brought you Xbox news in over 600 episodes. You can still listen to podcasts dating back to 2011 on the Xbox Wire. Comparing the personality and energy that Larry brought to podcasts compared to the modern hosts is night and day. I fell off the podcast around the time he departed Xbox.

Larry departed Xbox in 2023 and since June 2024 has been working as a lead for Unity Technologies’s community department. Since then, the direct comms channel, Xbox Wire has largely taken over messaging for Xbox. Though the Xbox Wire is a reliable and accurate source of information, what's missing is what gamers love - personality and someone who is engage-able, it's intrinsic to the way we consume our favourite media medium.
In Larry Hyrb we had someone who seemed to care about Xbox gamers. With the current executive level leadership - Satya Nadella, Sarah Bond, Matt Booty and of course, Phil Spencer - we're being spoken to by people who cannot relate to the everyday lives of financially struggling people who just love playing games.
I'm not for one second suggesting that Larry would have changed what has happened at Xbox over the last week. But I strongly feel that the delivery of the news to the industry - including gamers, developers and journalists - would have been in a less tone-deaf manner.
Xbox (and the video games industry in general) are entering unprecedented times. Consolidation of ownership, one-time exclusives being ported to other platforms and more gamers opting to play their games via subscription services. Regardless of your stance on any of these topics, I’m confident Larry Hyrb would have helped us make more sense of it all.
How do you feel about the current Xbox leadership? Would you welcome Larry Hyrb back to Xbox? Let us know in the comments below and stick with Gamer Social Club for all your gaming news.