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Welcome to Video Games Weekly on Engadget. Expect a new story every Monday or Tuesday, broken into two parts. The first is a space for short essays and ramblings about video game trends and related topics from me, Jess Conditt, a reporter who’s covered the industry for more than 13 years. The second contains the video game stories from the past week that you need to know about, including some headlines from outside of Engadget.

Please enjoy — and I’ll see you next week.

In a 2024 interview with Chris Plante, just a few months after Xbox fired 1,900 employees in one blow, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said the best way to prevent further layoffs in the video game industry was to ensure constant financial growth for major studios’ shareholders. And the most logical way to do that, he intimated, was with layoffs.

“The thing that has me most concerned for the industry is the lack of growth,” Spencer said. “When you have an industry that is projected to be smaller next year in terms of players and dollars, and you get a lot of publicly traded companies that are in the industry that have to show their investors growth — because why else does somebody own a share of someone’s stock if it’s not going to grow? — the side of the business that then gets scrutinized is the cost side.”

He says it as if it’s a natural and irrefutable fact of life. Of course the company has to continuously grow. Obviously the studio caters to its shareholders above all else. The only way to make the numbers go up is to reduce costs, which means slashing headcount. And Spencer is just a man in a Battletoads graphic tee who, clearly, has to do everything he can to make these investors, his fellow executives and himself richer. Poor guy.

“We’re a business,” Spencer told Polygon. “I’ve said over and over. I don’t get any luxury of not having to run a profitable growing business inside of Microsoft. And we are that today. But just across the industry — you mentioned it, and in sitting here at GDC, I reflect on friends of mine in the industry that have been displaced and lost their jobs and how just, I don’t want this industry to be a place where people can’t, with confidence, build a career. So that’s why I keep pivoting back to, how does this industry get back to growth?”

He’s already said the answer — layoffs — but it flies directly in the face of his stated desire to create a stable marketplace where his friends can thrive, so he watches the snake devour its own tail and shrugs, never once considering that the question itself is the problem.

Fast forward to July 2, 2025. Microsoft laid off 9,000 people across its global workforce, and the Xbox division was rocked by thousands of job losses, multiple studio closures and notable game cancellations. The news came out in leaked memos, social media posts from fired employees and LinkedIn status updates, and I spoke to someone with knowledge of the situation at Halo Studios about the mood among developers. Overall, it’s been a lot to keep track of. Here’s all of the reported fallout, as it stands on July 8:

Reported studio layoffs, closures and info

Blizzard: Layoffs; Warcraft Rumble sunsetting

Halo Studios: Layoffs affecting at least five people; we published a firsthand account of tension at the studio

The Initiative: Studio closed; Perfect Dark remake canceled

King: Layoffs affecting roughly 200 people, 10 percent of the studio

Rare: Layoffs; creative director and Banjo-Kazooie creator Gregg Mayles is out after 35 years; Everwild canceled

Raven Software: Layoffs

Sledgehammer Games: Layoffs

Turn 10: The Forza Motorsport team was gutted by layoffs and shut down; Turn 10 is now a Forza Horizon support studio

ZeniMax Online Studios: Studio head Matt Firor is out after 18 years; Blackbird canceled

Reported game cancellations

Blackbird (ZeniMax)

Everwild (Rare)

Perfect Dark (The Initiative)

Warcraft Rumble (Blizzard)

Unannounced first-person shooter (Romero Games)

Spencer said it in 2024 and it’s still true today: The Xbox division is growing, with an eight percent yearly increase in revenue from Xbox content and services in the first three months of 2025. Still, for employees, it doesn’t feel stable.

This situation isn’t unique to Microsoft, either: In May, Electronic Arts canceled its Black Panther game and closed the studio creating it, and this followed a previous culling at Respawn, which included canning a new Titanfall title, plus years of layoffs at BioWare. Meanwhile, EA CEO Andrew Wilson took home more than $25 million in the 2024 fiscal year. In 2024, 11 percent of developers across the industry were laid off, according to GDC’s 2025 State of the Game Industry Survey. Statista reports the global games market is expected to grow yet again in 2025, generating more than $522 billion in revenue.

Layoffs are a cruel solution to a shitty question, and at the moment, they form the backbone of the AAA industry. The world’s largest studios function on a binge and purge cycle, with acquisitions, crunch and layoffs built into their business plans. This cadence is only becoming more chaotic as additional factors, like AI and consolidation, are converging to decrease hiring numbers and increase the scope of layoffs. At Microsoft, using the company’s Copilot AI toolset is “no longer optional” for employees, and as one worker told me, “They’re trying their damndest to replace as many jobs as they can with AI agents.”

Practices like these have helped propel unionization efforts across the industry, including at Xbox studios.

“We are deeply disappointed in Microsoft’s decision to lay off thousands more workers, including union-represented CWA members, at a time when the company is prospering,” Communications Workers of America President Claude Cummings Jr. said about the recent layoffs. He continued, “Right now, we are living through a moment of profound corporate consolidation and disruption. In times like these, union organizing is not just a tool for protections in the workplace; it is essential to workers’ survival, and one of the strongest defenses we have against unchecked corporate power.”

In addition to this most recent round of 9,000 layoffs, Microsoft fired 6,000 people across its divisions in May. The Xbox segment specifically lost more than 2,500 employees to layoffs in 2024, and Microsoft closed Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games and Tango Gameworks (though Krafton eventually scooped up Tango for itself, thankfully). The scattershot vibe of the closures, cancellations and layoffs — affecting productive and low-overhead studios like Tango, exciting new projects like Blackbird, and multiple proven ZeniMax teams — drives home the notion that Microsoft was always more interested in controlling these studios’ IPs than supporting the developers that worked there.

Layoffs are an answer to the question, “How does this industry get back to growth?” Mass firings are not a function of artistic integrity or technological innovation, and they’re antithetical to the process of actually building fresh and powerful video games. I’ve never asked myself how industry profits can grow, as a player or a critic. Only a small and very specific group of people have, and they don’t speak for me. Unfortunately, they move for all of us.

The news

Helldivers 2 will hit Xbox this summer

Helldivers 2 is heading to Xbox on August 26, ending its tenure as a PlayStation 5 console exclusive after a little more than one year. Helldivers 2 is developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by PlayStation, so it wasn’t guaranteed to come to Xbox platforms at all. To be clear, it’s not due to be included in Game Pass any time soon. Since settling its launch issues in early 2024, Helldivers 2 has been quietly building up a sizable playerbase of intergalactic freedom fighters, with more than 15 million copies sold across PC and PS5.

Neil Druckmann is coming home

Naughty Dog co-founder Neil Druckmann is stepping back from the development of HBO’s The Last of Us television series to focus on making games again. Druckmann is a co-creator of the show and he’s been spending his time recently helping produce and write it at HBO, but now that the second season is done, he’s returning his attention to the studio that started it all.

“Now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, including writing and directing our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet,” he said in a statement. Welcome back, Druckmann — as Engadget deputy news editor Nathan Ingraham put it, the video game industry is happy to see you again.

Ex-Ubisoft executives convicted in France

Former Ubisoft executives Thomas Francois, Serge Hascoet and Guillaume Patrux were convicted in France of fostering a toxic workplace with rampant sexual and psychological abuse. Former chief creative officer Hascoet was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended, and Patrux received a 12-month suspended term. Francois was additionally found guilty of attempted sexual assault and received a suspended three-year prison sentence. This wraps up a multi-year investigation by French authorities into complaints of toxicity and gender-based harassment at Ubisoft.

Ghost of Yōtei showcase on Thursday

Sucker Punch will show off about 20 minutes of Ghost of Yōtei gameplay on Thursday, July 10, at 5PM ET during a dedicated State of Play event. I can’t wait to watch that wind move.

Finally, Time Flies

I’ve been looking forward to Time Flies since I buzzed my way through the demo at Summer Game Fest 2022. It’s a ridiculous little game that provokes poignant thoughts about human existence and pushes players to find joy in small moments, and it’s finally coming to PC, Switch and PS5 on July 31. Make sure to give it a go, whenever you have some time to kill.

AI prompts to help you navigate being laid off, from a colleague who wasn’t laid off

Two days after news of the Microsoft layoffs broke, Xbox Game Studios Publishing executive producer Matt Turnbull made a post on LinkedIn offering “ways to use LLM Al tools (like ChatGPT or Copilot) to help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss.” His suggested prompts included, “Draft a friendly message I can send to old coworkers letting them know I’m exploring new opportunities,” and, “I’m struggling with imposter syndrome after being laid off. Can you help me reframe this experience in a way that reminds me what I’m good at?” The tonedeaf post was met with appropriate ridicule and swiftly taken down.

Additional reading on the Xbox situation

Polygon: Microsoft has never been good at running game studios, which is a problem when it owns them all

Bloomberg: Xbox Executives Were Blown Away by an Upcoming Game. Then They Canceled It.

Eurogamer: Xbox’s absent landlord execs are only part of a much bigger problem

The Seattle Times: Microsoft to lay off about 9,000 employees in latest round and related thoughts from Circana analyst Mat Piscatella

Aftermath: Has Xbox Considered Laying One Person Off Instead Of Thousands

Have a tip for Jessica? You can reach her by email, Bluesky or send a message to @jesscon.96 to chat confidentially on Signal.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/video-games-weekly-every-time-this-industry-grows-it-shrinks-234020383.html?src=rss 

Waymo has introduced an option for teen accounts, allowing young passengers to take rides in its driverless robotaxis without adult supervision. The program is only available in metropolitan Phoenix for now, but the company said it plans to offer the service in other cities down the line.

Teen riders are added to a regular Waymo account and all ride receipts go to that adult. Ride information can also be shared with a parent for real-time updates. The program is available for teens aged 14 to 17, and up to four passengers can share a robotaxi with a teen rider as long as they are all older than 14. Waymo is also promising that its support team has been trained to handle these younger customers and to know when a parent needs to be contacted.

Rideshare platforms such as Uber have been offering access for teenagers to get around without a parent or guardian. Driverless cars may be a more appealing option for parents since there’s no unknown driver alone with their children; Waymo has highlighted that angle on its website.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymo-is-adding-teen-accounts-for-autonomous-vehicle-rides-without-parents-225205185.html?src=rss 

Jeff Williams is stepping down from his post as chief operating officer at Apple, the company announced today. Sabih Khan, senior vice president of operations for the company, will take over the COO title later this month. Following Williams’ retirement later this year, the design team that he had overseen will report directly to CEO Tim Cook. He also leads the teams for the Apple Watch and the company’s Health initiatives, but no details have been shared yet about who will head up those sections.

Williams joined Apple in 1998. He was named to the COO position in 2015, the first to hold the title for the company after Cook left the role to become CEO. “Jeff and I have worked alongside each other for as long as I can remember, and Apple wouldn’t be what it is without him,” Cook said of the outgoing exec.

Khan is another longtime Apple employee, with three decades at the tech giant. After joining the executive team in 2019, he helmed Apple’s global supply chain. According to Cook, Khan “has advanced our ambitious efforts in environmental sustainability, helping reduce Apple’s carbon footprint by more than 60 percent.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-coo-jeff-williams-is-retiring-this-year-221330481.html?src=rss 

In 2024, the FTC was set to implement the “click to cancel” rule, which would have placed requirements on companies to be forthright about the terms and conditions and exit options for their subscriptions. Since that time, the agency has become a less independent part of the executive branch and in May, it delayed enforcing some parts of this rule to July 14. Today, the entire plan appears to be dead in the water after judges in the US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided to vacate the rule.

The “click to cancel” rule, which was officially named the Negative Option Rule, drew appeals from industry associations and individual businesses. These parties argued the FTC had failed to follow correct procedures and conduct an analysis before issuing the rule. The judge panel has agreed with them.

“While we certainly do not endorse the use of unfair and deceptive practices in negative option marketing, the procedural deficiencies of the Commission’s rulemaking process are fatal here,” the ruling reads. “Vacatur of the entire Rule is appropriate in this case because of the prejudice suffered by Petitioners as a result of the Commission’s procedural error.”

The judges may not endorse those actions, but it looks like for the foreseeable future, businesses will be able to keep taking them without consequences.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ftcs-click-to-cancel-rule-has-been-struck-down-by-federal-judges-at-the-eleventh-hour-213503860.html?src=rss 

Odds are you aren’t too familiar with the group of animals called zooplankton, which include copepods, krill and salps. On land, they’re most commonly used as fish food. Underwater, however, they’ve been quietly making a substantial contribution to slowing global warming. The BBC reported on the latest research into zooplankton by an international team, published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography, that detailed just how much these tiny critters have been impacting the planet’s temperature.

In the spring and summer time, the animals consume phytoplankon, which are photosynthesizing bacteria and organisms that live on the ocean’s surface. After gorging themselves on this feast, zooplankton descend into the deeper waters around Antarctica to hibernate and burn off the fat created by eating phytoplankon, which releases carbon dioxide. This behavior has had the added benefit of storing carbon hundreds of meters underwater, where it can take decades or sometimes centuries to re-emerge and add to warming the atmosphere. 

“If this biological pump didn’t exist, atmospheric CO2 levels would be roughly twice those as they are at the moment,” co-author Professor Angus Atkinson from Plymouth Marine Laboratory told the BBC. “So the oceans are doing a pretty good job of mopping up CO2 and getting rid of it.”

It was already known that zooplankton played a role in facilitating carbon storage, but the new results detailed just how effective these aquatic critters have been in helping slow the planet’s warming. They said zooplankton are responsible for transporting 65 million tons of carbon each year to the depths of the Southern Ocean. That’s the equivalent of a year’s emissions from 55 million diesel cars.

But since we seem incapable of having nice things, zooplankon are also at long-term risk. The climate change that they have been helping to stave off poses a threat to these species in the form of higher water temperatures, disturbances to ocean layers and extreme weather events. There’s also an industry for krill harvesting; according to the UN, about 500,000 tons of krill were removed from the ocean by commercial operations in 2020. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/we-have-a-surprising-underwater-ally-in-combatting-climate-change-zooplankton-190613506.html?src=rss 

Sony is holding a State of Play livestream dedicated exclusively to the upcoming adventure game Ghost of Yōtei. It starts on July 10 at 5PM ET. It will stream on the official PlayStation YouTube and Twitch accounts.

The company promises “nearly 20 minutes” of gameplay hosted by developer Sucker Punch. The stream will also show off “new weapons, new ways to personalize your journey at the edge of Japan, new special modes and much more.” The game comes out on October 2, exclusively for PS5.

For the uninitiated, Ghost of Yōtei is a sequel to the popular Ghost of Tsushima. However, it features a new protagonist, era and location. It takes place in Hokkaido, Japan in the early 1600s, which is over 300 years after the events of the first game.

It’s still an open-world adventure and Sony promises “even more freedom and variety than in Ghost of Tsushima.” The gameplay looks more open than the original, as players can hunt down the six major bosses in whatever order they choose. We’ll find out a whole lot more about how the game works on July 10.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/heres-how-to-watch-sonys-ghost-of-yotei-state-of-play-showcase-172043456.html?src=rss 

Senators Tim Sheehy and Elizabeth Warren have introduced a bipartisan bill to enshrine a right to repair for military equipment. The legislation, called the “Warrior Right to Repair Act,” would codify the right-to-repair provisions that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put in place through the Army Transformation and Acquisition Reform memorandum from April 30.

The Department of Defense has not been immune from restrictive practices set forth by manufacturers, and much like the average consumer, has been hamstrung in its ability to repair its own equipment by clauses in its purchase agreements. According to the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), the current system leads to excessive repair and sustainment costs, and can even impede military readiness.

“When our neighbors, friends and family serve in our military, we expect them to get what they need to do their jobs as safely as possible,” PIRG Federal Legislative Director Isaac Bowers wrote regarding the newly introduced bill. “Somehow, that hasn’t included the materials and information they need to repair equipment they rely on. It’s time we fixed that.”

A recent PIRG poll showed that enshrining the right to repair for the military is supported by an overwhelming majority of the American electorate, with almost 75 percent of respondents supporting the initiative.

The right-to-repair movement has been in an ongoing battle between consumers, manufacturers and lawmakers. States like Oregon have passed their own right-to-repair laws, though manufacturers continue to run afoul of regulation. Senator Warren introduced a similar bill in 2024 without a Republican co-sponsor, but it was never brought to a vote.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-military-might-finally-win-the-right-to-repair-173539873.html?src=rss