While today is the final day of my first real vacation since 2018, I’d like to extend my sympathies to the 9,000 workers let go by Microsoft’s layoffs last week, which are hitting its Xbox division and associated studios especially hard. The fallout includes the closure of Turn 10’s team for Forza Motorsport, which first launched almost 20 years ago and helped cement Microsoft Gaming Studios’ rising reputation as a publisher. This is likely the end of Forza Motorsport, though it appears that its open-world cousin, Forza Horizons, lives on. Call of Duty studios got hit, too.
My heart goes out to everyone who lost their jobs … or lost their jobs because of Microsoft canceling their games, such as folks at Romero Games, the studio of industry legends John Romero (Castle Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake) and Brenda Romero (the Wizardry series). Like indie dev and industry advocate Rami Ismail, this also makes me wonder — if the Romeros can’t make it now, who can?
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