Microsoft Announces 'Most Significant Restructure in Xbox History'Focus Reset
BladeSenuaState of Decay 3Xbox Series SXbox Series X<br>Xbox Boss Asha Sharma Announces 3,200 Layoffs, Including 1,600 Today, With 4 Studios Leaving for New Management — Read the Email to Staff in Full<br>"I know this is painful."
By Wesley Yin-Poole
Updated: Jul 6, 2026 2:47pm UTC
289 comments
Microsoft has announced 3,200 staff are set to lose their jobs at Xbox across the current financial year, with 1,600 of those layoffs happening today, July 6. As part of the restructure, four studios are leaving Xbox to new management, and one is now in consultation over its future.
In an email sent to staff and reviewed by IGN, Xbox boss Asha Sharma called it the most “significant” restructure in Xbox history, insisting Microsoft’s gaming business “is not healthy.” Overall, Microsoft's gaming business is losing about one-fifth of its staff.<br>South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games and Psychonauts developer Double Fine Productions will return to management and transition to independent studios with their IP, catalog, and with “runway for their next games,” Sharma said. These games are so far unannounced. In Double Fine's case, it leaves Microsoft with the Psychonauts IP.<br>The 100 Best Xbox Games of All Time
It may be that the very idea of an Xbox game is coming to an end. Microsoft has undeniably shifted its tactics, with a new focus on multi-platform releases, handheld Xboxes that are actually miniature Windows computers, and the potential that future Xbox consoles may simply be gaming PCs. So now seems as good a time as any to look back at the entire history of Microsoft’s console journey and rank the best Xbox games, with help from our friends at Outside Xbox, the multimillion-subscriber channel that serves up weekly videos about video games and video game-adjacent things
When we say “the best Xbox games,” we mean the ones that most evoke that weighty sense of “Xboxness.” Some are first-party, most are exclusives, and all of them are indelibly tied to the legacy of and fondness for a platform that’s left a massive mark on gaming. These are the 100 Best Xbox Games of All Time. We'll be updating this list daily with 25 games at 7am PST/10am ET/3pm GMT from Tuesday, 20th January to Friday, 23rd January, until number one is revealed." decoding="async" class="progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity" loading="lazy" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-cy="progressive-image"/>100. 1 vs. 100<br>A large-scale, online multiplayer game show, played in real-time by actual players who could win actual prizes? It was a bold idea, and Microsoft's 1 vs. 100 actually did it. Adapted from the TV show of the same name, players were randomly dropped into one of three pools whenever the show went live: the Crowd, the Mob, and the One, with the One competing against the Mob in trivia rounds where reaction times were just as important an ingredient to victory as the correct answer to the question being asked. Prizes ranged from 80 Microsoft Points ($1) to a free Xbox Live Arcade game, to 10,000 Microsoft Points ($125). 1 vs. 100 was a true social and technical experiment in the world of gaming, and here's the thing: it worked! Sadly, it was canceled after two "seasons" and can't be played now, but it lives on in the memory as one of the best and most innovative Xbox games ever made." decoding="async" class="progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity" loading="lazy" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-cy="progressive-image"/>View 101 Images
99. Conker: Live and Reloaded<br>When Microsoft acquired Nintendo's second-party darling Rare for $375 million, the possibilities were endless. One of the first games Xbox got from the British studio was Conker: Live and Reloaded, a remake of N64's Conker's Bad Fur Day that added online multiplayer. And while that competitive play was quite fun, thanks in part to the juxtaposition of over-the-top violence and adorable characters on screen, it was the technological level-up from the N64 original that was truly stunning. The action-platformer was now "fur-shaded," giving the manes of Conker and his buddies a unique "next-gen" new look. Ironically, Live and Reloaded was actually more heavily censored than Bad Fur Day, but both campaign and multiplayer were nevertheless a great way to introduce Rare to its new Xbox player base." decoding="async" class="progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity" loading="lazy" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-cy="progressive-image"/>98. Top Spin<br>Believe it or not, there was a time when EA didn't support Xbox Live. And so...