Gears of War: E-Day Devs Fear Layoffs Right After Launch, Before Bonuses Arrive

Anxiety is spreading among the team behind Gears of War: E-Day, with staff reportedly bracing for layoffs shortly after the game releases, at the point when launch bonuses would normally be due.

The concern comes against the backdrop of Xbox's dramatic restructuring. In July, new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced 3,200 job cuts across Microsoft's gaming division, with about half of those roles eliminated at the time of the announcement. The remaining reductions are the source of continuing unease across the company's studios.

The July round was far reaching. Employees at Activision, Bethesda, id Software, Blizzard, Mojang and King were all affected. Some studios were reshaped more fundamentally: Double Fine and Compulsion Games were set loose as independent companies, while Arkane Lyon (Dishonored 2), Undead Labs (State of Decay 3) and Ninja Theory (Hellblade) entered talks over new ownership.

For the E-Day developers, the worry is about timing. Big releases have often been followed by cuts, as a team's work winds down and a publisher reassesses headcount. If that pattern holds here, people who spent years crunching toward launch could be let go just as performance bonuses would arrive, leaving them without both a job and the payout tied to the game's success.

Microsoft has not been shown to have confirmed any such plan for the Gears team, and the fears reflect staff sentiment rather than an announced decision. Still, after a year in which so many studios were sold, spun off or trimmed, it is easy to see why developers are reading the signs cautiously.

The situation underlines how much uncertainty hangs over Xbox's first-party output. Even a flagship franchise like Gears offers little reassurance when the parent company is pursuing cuts on this scale, and the E-Day team will be watching closely to see what follows the game's release.