Hellblade developer Ninja Theory and Arkane Studios face closure in Xbox cuts

| GameCentral News Writer Published September 22, 2026 4:48pm Updated September 22, 2026 4:49pm Senua (aka Hellblade 3) may never see the light f day (Xbox Game Studios) As Microsoft confirms almost 300 new job losses across Xbox, the chances of Ninja Theory surviving the bloodbath have decreased dramatically. Just as the rumours suggested, Microsoft has announced another new round of layoffs across all of its Xbox studios, with Rare and Halo being put under the control of Activision, and Bethesda taking responsibility for Obsidian Entertainment. All of that will entail job cuts of various amounts, but at least the studios will continue in some fashion. British studio Ninja Theory may well not be so lucky though, as Microsoft has not been able to find a buyer for the company, which is best known for the likes of Heavenly Sword, Enslaved: Odyssey To The West, DmC: Devil May Cry, and Hellblade. According to Microsoft, two separate attempts to sell off Ninja Theory have fallen through and they will now, ‘begin consultation with employees on a proposed closure while continuing to explore other paths forward.’ That leaves a sliver of hope that they could be saved but it doesn’t look good. Although Hellblade has never been a big seller, a third entry in the series was recently announced, with analysts suggesting the early announcement, without a release date, was done specifically to make the company seem more desirable to potential buyers. Ninja Theory was also thought to be an attractive purchase because of their high quality motion capture studio, but it may be that the asking price was too much. Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. There’s no indication of who was interested in buying them, or why the deals fell through, but Microsoft’s statement makes it sound like they’ve all but given up now. This is all part of the big ‘reset’ of Xbox, initiated by new boss Asha Sharma, that will see 3,200 staff laid off before July 2027. 1,600 went this July, so with 268 losses today that still means 1,332 more people at Xbox are going to lose their jobs sooner rather than later. The only positive to come from the mass layoffs is that studios Compulsion and Double Fine have successfully returned to being independent companies, although the latter, at least, has had to lay off staff itself, in order to keep going. As part of today’s announcements, Undead Labs was also announced as having gone independent, having apparently secured a publishing deal with an unnamed party. It’s unclear if that means State Of Decay 3 will now be a multiformat release, but Microsoft is boasting that it will be a day one Game Pass title. Meanwhile, the fate of Dishonored and Deathloop Arkane Studios, who are supposed to be working on Marvel’s Blade, remains uncertain. Since they’re based in France, they have stronger labour laws protecting them and Microsoft states only that ‘consultation’ is expected to ‘continue through the end of the year.’ It’s unclear what will result from that but the chances of them continuing on as before, without either being shut down or folded into another company (most likely Bethesda) seems remote. Marvel’s Blade might never happen either (Xbox Game Studios) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: Rivage review – saving the world, one puzzle at a time Arrow MORE: Bungie to revive Destiny 2 and ‘evolve’ Marathon as it admits losing fans’ trust Arrow MORE: New PS5 cashback scheme will make digital games cheaper as first trials begin GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.