A letter from Matt Booty to developers, which has become a key source of information about the recent wave of layoffs at Xbox Game Studios, also contains a more positive detail: over 40 games are currently in development by internal teams.
Official Confirmation from Microsoft
This detail comes from a specific part of Booty’s message, where he confirms the cancellation of Perfect Dark, Everwild, and the shutdown of The Initiative:
“We have more than 40 projects in active development, continued momentum on titles shipping this fall, and a strong slate headed into 2026.”
According to sources like Variety, nearly all games shown at the recent Xbox Games Showcase are still safe and are expected to release as planned. This includes previously announced titles that were not part of the confirmed cancellations.
So far, the games that appear to be canceled include only Perfect Dark, Everwild, and some unannounced projects, one of which is believed to be a ZeniMax MMO known internally as “Blackbird.”
All other known titles seem to be safe, including State of Decay 3 and Marvel’s Blade, which were rumored to be at risk but those rumors have since been denied.
Hardware Division Unaffected
Surprisingly, despite the current turmoil, several sources suggest that the Xbox hardware division has not been affected by the layoffs. Other teams not directly mentioned in leaks or documents also appear to remain intact.
