Craig Duncan, the head of Xbox Game Studios, has reflected on some of the momentous moves Microsoft made in 2025, which included cancelling games, laying off staff, and shutting down development studios. Duncan said in an interview with GamesRadar that the decision to cancel games like the Perfect Dark reboot and Rare's new game Everwild was "difficult," but he said it was also necessary.
"Sometimes business decisions have to be made, which have wide reach and impact. We don't like doing that. So the lesson is: how do we make sure we don't have to do that? That's really the goal there," he said.
Part of Duncan's job is to perform portfolio reviews, he said, and sometimes these reviews lead to difficult outcomes for specific teams and projects.
"As an overall portfolio, we're always looking at how everything is going. At whether everything is set up well. At whether we have got the right resources to go and deliver on our aspirations for all of our games," he explained.
Duncan's comments line up with what other Microsoft executives have said about layoffs at Xbox. In 2025, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said major cuts were necessary to preserve the Xbox business, despite simultaneously acknowledging that Xbox's overall platform, hardware, and game roadmap were the strongest they've been in the company's history.
Microsoft will release its next quarterly earnings report on January 28, at which time the company is expected to disclose details about the health of the company overall, including Xbox.
In addition to Everwild and the Perfect Dark reboot, Microsoft canceled a new MMO from The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios. Longtime ZeniMax boss Matt Firor left the company after the game was cancelled, saying it was the game he waited his entire career to make. "Having it canceled led to my resignation," he wrote.
2026 is the 25th anniversary of Xbox, and Microsoft is going big with a number of major releases lined up for the year. These include Forza Horizon 6, the Fable reboot, and Halo: Campaign Evolved.
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"Sometimes business decisions have to be made, which have wide reach and impact. We don't like doing that. So the lesson is: how do we make sure we don't have to do that? That's really the goal there," he said.
Part of Duncan's job is to perform portfolio reviews, he said, and sometimes these reviews lead to difficult outcomes for specific teams and projects.
"As an overall portfolio, we're always looking at how everything is going. At whether everything is set up well. At whether we have got the right resources to go and deliver on our aspirations for all of our games," he explained.
Duncan's comments line up with what other Microsoft executives have said about layoffs at Xbox. In 2025, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said major cuts were necessary to preserve the Xbox business, despite simultaneously acknowledging that Xbox's overall platform, hardware, and game roadmap were the strongest they've been in the company's history.
Microsoft will release its next quarterly earnings report on January 28, at which time the company is expected to disclose details about the health of the company overall, including Xbox.
In addition to Everwild and the Perfect Dark reboot, Microsoft canceled a new MMO from The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios. Longtime ZeniMax boss Matt Firor left the company after the game was cancelled, saying it was the game he waited his entire career to make. "Having it canceled led to my resignation," he wrote.
2026 is the 25th anniversary of Xbox, and Microsoft is going big with a number of major releases lined up for the year. These include Forza Horizon 6, the Fable reboot, and Halo: Campaign Evolved.
Source