Xbox is placing the future of Halo under Activision in a major internal restructuring that also brings another round of layoffs to Halo Studios. The next Halo game will be developed by a newly assembled team within Activision, while the remaining Halo Studios staff will shift into a support role for the franchise’s existing games and community.

The change is one of the most consequential reorganizations in Halo’s modern history. Halo Studios, formerly 343 Industries, has led the series since 2007. Its work has included the first Halo remake, Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Infinite, and Halo: Campaign Evolved, the latest remake of the original game, which launched earlier in 2026.

Now, the next main chapter will be made by Activision rather than the studio that has spent nearly two decades directly steering the series. Xbox says the Activision group being established for Halo is separate from the company’s ongoing Call of Duty development and plans.

A new Halo team inside Activision

Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty confirmed that Activision will develop the next Halo title using what the company describes as a purpose-built team. In plain terms, that means a team assembled specifically for the project rather than simply handing Halo to an existing Call of Duty studio or folding it into an active Call of Duty production pipeline.

That distinction matters. Activision is closely identified with Call of Duty, but Xbox is presenting Halo as its own development effort with separate staffing and planning. The statement confirms who is leading the next project, but it does not identify the game’s title, genre format, platforms, release window, engine, multiplayer plans, campaign scope, or the particular Activision studios and developers involved.

“For Halo, our goal is clear: make the greatest Halo game ever, worthy of its universe and legacy, while staying true to what made players love it in the first place,” Activision president Rob Kostich said.

Kostich also said Activision has already started putting together the new Halo team. It is an ambitious promise, but players should separate the stated objective from confirmed game details. At this stage, the concrete news is the leadership transfer and the formation of a dedicated team—not a revealed design direction for the next Halo.

268 layoffs as Halo Studios becomes a support group

The transition comes with 268 layoffs across Halo Studios and other Xbox operations. A smaller Halo Studios team will remain in place to support “the Halo community and games in-market.”

“Games in-market” is industry language for games that have already been released and are currently being supported for players. In Halo’s case, the announcement establishes that Xbox intends to retain a group responsible for ongoing community and live-game needs. However, the company has not detailed the size of that group, the precise games it will cover, or a specific roadmap for future updates.

The reduced role is a sharp change from Halo Studios’ former position as the principal development home for the franchise. Rather than leading the next entry, the studio’s remaining staff will provide support underneath Activision’s ownership of the series’ next major development phase.

Booty acknowledged the impact on departing employees in a memo:

“I am deeply grateful for what our colleagues have built. And I know how difficult today will be for those leaving and the teams around them.”

Xbox says its wider planned reductions, described by the company as a reset, are now 75% complete. The new cuts arrive about three months after a larger July round that eliminated more than 1,600 roles.

For Halo fans, the immediate practical implication is complicated. Existing games and the community are explicitly still receiving support, which is more reassuring than a full closure. Yet the studio most closely tied to recent Halo development is being substantially reduced, and the work of creating the next game is moving elsewhere. The announcement gives no reason to assume either that current support will end abruptly or that its scope will remain unchanged; it simply confirms a smaller team and a new reporting structure.

The end of an era for 343 Industries’ successor

Halo Studios’ history under its former 343 Industries identity has been long enough to define an era of the series. Beginning in 2007, the team took responsibility for Halo after the franchise’s original development stewardship had moved on. Its run covered new numbered entries, remakes, and the ongoing effort to maintain Halo as a flagship Xbox shooter.

That record includes meaningful successes, but it has also been marked in recent years by layoffs and uncertainty. This restructuring appears to close the chapter in which the studio functioned as Halo’s primary creative lead. Halo Studios is not being described as disappearing entirely, but its new support mandate is fundamentally different from owning the next game’s full development.

The decision also makes the naming change from 343 Industries to Halo Studios look less like the start of a long independent new phase and more like a step preceding a broader corporate realignment. What matters now is not the old or new studio name, but the altered division of responsibility: Activision develops the future installment; the smaller Halo Studios team helps sustain the Halo games already in players’ hands.

Why Xbox is consolidating Halo, Rare and World’s Edge

Halo is not the only Xbox property being moved. Xbox is also placing Rare and World’s Edge, the group associated with Age of Empires, under Activision. That combination brings together three major brands with very different histories: Halo’s science-fiction shooting, Rare’s varied catalog, and World’s Edge’s strategy focus.

The move is part of a broader effort to consolidate Xbox’s studios and franchises. Corporate consolidation generally means relocating reporting lines, management responsibility, and resource planning into fewer or differently structured groups. It does not automatically reveal the creative plans for each franchise, but it can reshape how decisions are made and which organization has responsibility for staffing, production and long-term direction.

In this case, Activision is being given a wider remit inside Xbox. Kostich said the company was welcoming Halo, Rare and World’s Edge, emphasizing both the legacy of those teams and the responsibility of overseeing them. The announcement does not say that the three brands will share developers, technology, release strategies or design philosophies. It says they will sit under the same corporate umbrella.

Readers looking for the larger picture can also see how the change fits into the wider Xbox restructuring that puts Activision and Bethesda in charge of key studios. Halo’s move is especially striking because it involves one of Xbox’s most recognizable series, but it is one piece of a company-wide remapping of oversight.

What Activision’s role does—and does not—tell us about the next game

Activision’s experience with a massive first-person shooter franchise will inevitably make the Halo move feel significant. Still, it would be premature to treat the assignment as confirmation that the next game will mirror Call of Duty. Xbox specifically says the Halo team is separate from Call of Duty development, and no gameplay information has been announced.

“Purpose-built” is also worth reading carefully. The phrase conveys a staffing and organizational commitment: the company is constructing a group for Halo’s needs. It is not, by itself, a technical specification. It does not confirm a particular engine, a new multiplayer model, a campaign structure, a live-service plan, or any other feature players may be debating.

What is clear is the expectation Activision is setting for itself. Kostich framed the task as honoring what players loved about Halo while seeking an exceptionally high bar for the next entry. That creates a straightforward test for the new group: it will need to establish its own approach to a franchise with a distinct identity, while carrying expectations built across Halo’s long history.

For now, the most responsible takeaway is narrower. A new Activision-led Halo team is being formed. Halo Studios is becoming a smaller support operation. Xbox has not shown the new game, named it, or explained when players will see it.

What players can reasonably watch for next

The restructuring leaves several practical questions open, and none should be filled with assumptions. Players can reasonably watch for official clarification in a few areas:

  • The composition of the new team: Xbox has confirmed that it exists and is being assembled, but has not identified its leadership or the Activision studios contributing to it.
  • The role of the remaining Halo Studios staff: “Supporting the Halo community and games in-market” confirms an ongoing function, while leaving the exact scope of support unspecified.
  • The next Halo project itself: There is no announced title, date, gameplay reveal, platform list, or feature set.
  • The consequences of the wider restructuring: Rare and World’s Edge are also now under Activision, though the announcement does not provide separate production plans for their games.

The immediate story, then, is not a trailer or a newly unveiled Halo feature. It is a transfer of stewardship during a painful period of job losses. Xbox is betting that Activision can build the next Halo through a dedicated new team, while a much smaller Halo Studios continues looking after the franchise already in market. Whether that structure produces the Halo experience Activision has promised remains an open question, but the old development arrangement has unmistakably changed.