While several Xbox studios regained independence or found new owners yesterday, Arkane's staff must negotiate their own future

Yesterday, Xbox announced that they were spinning off five major studios in the course of the latest round of "historic" restructuring , with 1600 jobs instantly chopped and 1600 more layoffs to follow over the next financial year. It's the latest in a string of failures on the part of Xbox leadership, who have repeatedly butchered the division after an evidently overambitious acquisition spree that dates back to the 2010s . It has, at least, not yet resulted in any outright studio closures. Double Fine and Compulsion are going indie again with a little funding from Microsoft, keeping ownership of their games. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have been sold to unnamed new owners. And then there's Dishonored and Marvel's Blade developers Arkane, whose fate is still being negotiated. Read more