Age of Empires developer scraps upcoming game after staff cuts

Background

World's Edge has been the studio responsible for the Age of Empires franchise since 2019. Over those seven years, it built a reputation for steady, competent stewardship of the classic real-time strategy series, working alongside Halo under what was then the Xbox umbrella.

That arrangement has now changed. As part of Xbox's most recent wave of layoffs and corporate reorganization, World's Edge has been placed under Activision's wing — and the cost has been severe.

What Happened

The layoffs hit World's Edge hard enough that the studio was forced to cancel its upcoming untitled project — a game likely connected to Age of Empires in some way, though it had never been formally announced.

Creative director Adam Isgreen, as spotted by Polygon, notified players that "half the studio" was laid off, including himself. He indicated the studio was generally spared in the broader Xbox cuts, but the number of people let go was still enough to kill the new project outright.

The human toll went beyond raw headcount. Senior software engineer Andrew Martz explained that reorganizing the studio to become part of Activision was the direct reason for both the layoffs and the cancellation. His own case was particularly brutal: he received a promotion at World's Edge that took effect on Sept. 15 — and was fired just one week later. According to Martz, his was not the only such case in this round of cuts.

The Bigger Picture

The World's Edge layoffs are part of a larger restructuring at Xbox. The recent cuts amount to roughly 270 job losses overall, and the company has said it is now three-quarters of the way through the process — meaning more positions are expected to disappear before it's done.

For players, the implications are worth watching. Restructurings of this scale tend to push large publishers toward safer bets: established franchises and sequels rather than original projects. World's Edge's cancelled game is a concrete example of that dynamic — an unannounced title shelved not because of its quality, but because of corporate reorganization. What original content does emerge from Xbox may increasingly come through partnerships with third parties, such as its work with Kojima Productions.

Where Things Stand

World's Edge survives, now under Activision, with Age of Empires still in its portfolio — but with half its staff gone, its creative director laid off, and its next new project cancelled. Xbox's restructuring is about 75% complete, and roughly 270 jobs have already been cut. The immediate casualty for players is a game most never knew existed; the longer-term question is whether studios like World's Edge can keep doing what made them effective in the first place.