Halo Studios Layoffs: Halo 2/3 Remake and Halo 7 Reports, Activision’s Confirmed Role

Several outlets have covered the list. Most of the detail comes from one source, Halo reporter Rebs Gaming, so this is one account repeated by many sites, not four separate confirmations.

What Microsoft actually confirmed​

On September 22, 2026, Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty sent employees a memo titled "Continuing Our Reset" and published it on Xbox Wire. The key facts:

• 268 roles cut across Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and the Xbox Game Studios management and central-functions layer. The memo does not say how many of those jobs were at Halo Studios.
• Activision will develop the next Halo title with a new, purpose-built team that is separate from its Call of Duty work.
• A small team at Halo Studios will keep supporting the Halo community and the games already on sale.
• Microsoft says the actions since July, including selling off studios, put Xbox about three-quarters of the way through its announced restructuring.

The memo also covers other studios. Activision takes over Rare and World's Edge. Obsidian moves under Bethesda. Playground Games and Turn 10 become one studio focused on Forza and Fable. Compulsion, Double Fine and Undead Labs have been spun out, and State of Decay 3 will still launch day one on Game Pass under a new publisher. Two separate deals for Ninja Theory fell through, so Xbox is starting consultation with its employees on a proposed closure. Consultation with Arkane is expected to run through the end of the year.

What the memo does not say: that the next Halo is Halo 7, that any remake exists or was cancelled, or that Activision has taken over any of the reported projects.

Section summary: The layoffs and Activision's role are confirmed. Everything below is insider reporting.

The four reported projects​

According to Rebs Gaming, there were no Halo games in full production at Halo Studios/343i, despite Halo Infinite being nearly 5 years old. The projects that did exist were at a very early concept stage with little major work done.

1. Halo 2 remake​

Reported as an early concept. Beebom separately cites a different leaker, Halo Leaks, who says the Halo 2 and Halo 3 remakes have been shelved. Microsoft has confirmed neither the remakes nor any cancellation.

2. Halo 3 remake​

Also reported as an early concept, and included in Halo Leaks' claim that the remakes were shelved. VGTimes adds that earlier reports said the Halo 2 and Halo 3 remakes could be delayed and Halo Studios' internal projects paused.

3. Halo 7​

Rebs Gaming says a small core team was working out the game's concept and overall vision. TwistedVoxel reports that shortly before the layoffs, members of the team reportedly presented an updated Halo 7 concept to Matt Booty and other Xbox executives. The reported plan was for Halo 7 to launch with campaign, PvP, PvE and Forge available from day one. That was a pitch, not a product plan. The project was reportedly years away from release.

4. Halo: First Strike adaptation​

This is the most detailed claim. First Strike is Eric Nylund's 2003 novel, set between Combat Evolved and Halo 2. Wccftech reports that the game would have connected July's Halo: Campaign Evolved with the Halo 2 remake. The reported plan was five campaign missions plus a Firefight mode, with a 2027 target. GameRiv notes that the reported 2027 target was an internal ambition. The account provides no indication that the project had advanced far enough to make that schedule dependable. TwistedVoxel adds that two additional sources had confirmed the existence of the First Strike project to RebsGaming. Those sources are not public.

The reports also say the studio was considering a wider plan to turn other Halo novels into small releases between the big remakes.

How this fits with other reporting​

Part of the timeline has some backing. In The Verge's Notepad newsletter on September 24, Tom Warren wrote that a source told him the next Halo Studios game was years away from shipping, so Microsoft pulled the plug. That phrase is The Verge's source, not Microsoft. It supports the long timeline, but it doesn't confirm every detail of the four projects.

Wccftech's account also names who started them: studio head Pierre Hintze had the entire studio begin early development simultaneously on remakes of Halo 2 and Halo 3 (as previously reported), Halo 7, and a spin-off campaign. That raises an obvious question. If the studio had four concepts running and nothing in full production, what did the executives who had to sign off on the budget see? Rebs Gaming's account suggests part of the answer: lots of plans and not much ready to ship. That fits Microsoft's stated push for bigger games delivered faster.

A caveat: Wolf's Gaming Blog notes that this report seems to go against a prior claim that Halo Studios wasn't actually working on anything at all, a report which also conflicted with another claim that remakes of Halo 2 and 3 were already greenlit. Halo insider reporting has contradicted itself before, so treat all of it with caution.

How many people are left?​

Nobody knows for sure. Rebs Gaming says around 30 people remain across engineering, art, design and support. Halo Leaks puts it at "around 20+." VGTimes reports around 20 employees. Microsoft only says "a small team."

Other claims to treat as unverified:

• Hintze reportedly remains in charge and hopes to make smaller Halo projects with AI tools, and to get resources to outsource the remakes. Wccftech notes that Rebs' source considers Microsoft or Activision approving any of that very unlikely.
• Rebs' sources speculate the studio could eventually close. That possibility has not been confirmed.

What it means for Xbox and PC players​

For players on Windows and Xbox, the practical picture is simple:

• Current games stay supported. A Halo Studios team remains for Halo Infinite and Halo: Campaign Evolved.
• The next mainline Halo belongs to Activision. As VGTimes points out, Microsoft has not said whether it will be Halo 7 or whether any elements of Halo Studios' concept will carry over.
• Don't plan on the remakes. No Halo 2 or Halo 3 remake has been announced, and one leaker says both are shelved.
• Don't expect First Strike in 2027. It was an internal target for a project that was never announced.

There's also a wider trend here, which I'm reading from the restructuring itself rather than from any source. Microsoft is cutting its first-party studios down to fewer, larger groups built around big franchises. Warren's newsletter describes the Xbox Game Studios side as looking thin, with Gears of War developer The Coalition and inXile among the few studios left outside the moved teams. Halo was once Xbox's flagship series. Now its next game is being made by the Call of Duty publisher.

Bottom line: The layoffs and Activision's takeover of the next Halo are confirmed. The four-project list is one insider's account, backed in parts by other reporting. Until Microsoft or Activision says more, it tells you what Halo Studios was planning, not what fans will get.

Update: Activision reportedly considering a Master Chief origin-story reboot (October 2, 2026)​

Activision is reportedly considering a hard reboot centered on Master Chief’s origins, according to Polygon’s October 2 report citing Halo reporter Rebs Gaming. The concept has not been greenlit and is described as one of several directions under consideration. According to the same report, another possibility is a soft reboot that moves away from the storylines of Halo Studios’ recent games.

Polygon also reports, citing Rebs Gaming’s anonymous former Halo developer source, that Activision proposed two Halo projects before Microsoft announced the development handover on September 22: a free-to-play multiplayer game and a separate single-player experience. According to that account, Sledgehammer Games prototyped both using Infinity Ward’s in-house engine. These reported prototypes are not confirmed production projects, and the report does not establish whether either would become the next Halo release.

For Windows and Xbox players, the new reporting suggests Activision may pursue a different direction rather than continue Halo Studios’ reported Halo 7 concept. It does not establish a release date, supported platforms, a final engine choice or whether campaign and multiplayer would ship separately. Microsoft and Activision have not confirmed these specific plans; the origin-story reboot remains an option described by an insider, not an announced game.