u/PBOats121

>I understand Microsoft is currently weighing closing at least five studios, including the developers behind Marvel's Blade. Sources tell me Microsoft wants to cancel Blade as part of a wave of cost cuts and job losses that are planned for the company's Xbox gaming division.

>Developed by France-based Arkane Studios, best-known for the Dishonored series, Blade was originally supposed to debut later this year according to sources familiar with the game's development. I'm told the internal ship date for the game slipped to late 2027, and it's also running over budget.

>While Microsoft is weighing canceling Blade, it's also exploring options to sell Arkane Studios. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Microsoft is trying to spin off Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory, too. GamesBeat reported this week that Microsoft is actively looking for a buyer for Undead Labs, the developers behind State of Decay. If buyers are found for these studios, then they'll avoid being closed, but sources stress these talks could take months in some cases.

>Memory-maker Micron has found a way to keep prices for its products sky-high for another five years, by signing 16 “strategic customer agreements” (SCAs) that include a floor price the company says comes with “a very robust gross margin for Micron, well above our peak quarterly margins in any past cycle.”

>Micron CEO, president and chairman Sanjay Mehrotra explained the SCAs in prepared remarks delivered during the company’s Q3 earnings call. He explained that Micron has signed 16 SCAs, most of them covering 2026 to 2030, and that they involve a commitment to buy a certain quantity of product and pay for it in a pricing band that has a floor and a ceiling price. The floor price covers the historically high gross margins mentioned above, and the ceiling price means those who commit to an SCA are insulated if memory prices go even higher.

>“Our customers are recognizing that supply shortages in memory and storage will take considerable time to improve,” he said. “Even as we expect industry supply to improve gradually in 2028, we currently do not have line of sight as to when memory supply will be able to catch up with increasing demand.”

>Several studios in Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox gaming division, including Montreal-based Compulsion Games and San Francisco-based Double Fine, are in active negotiations to spin off as they try to thwart closure, according to people familiar with the company's plans.

>Cambridge, England-based Ninja Theory, the maker of Hellblade, is also in conversations with Xbox, as are several other studios across the portfolio that are at risk of being shuttered.

>The studios may still have the opportunity to buy themselves back from Xbox and go independent, although many employees will likely lose their jobs as a result, said the people, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Employees at several studios have been informed of the situation and given permission to seek new work but were told that the status of the studios is still in flux.

>As Microsoft gets ready to overhaul its struggling Xbox gaming unit**, it hasn't ruled out spinning out or restructuring the unit as a wholly-owned subsidiary, which could make it easier to sell, or creating a joint venture with other partners,** according to three people with direct knowledge of the discussions.

>Microsoft operates LinkedIn and GitHub as wholly owned subsidiaries, which could serve as one potential blueprint for Xbox, one of the people said.

>In particular, Xbox will move faster on developing new games from beloved franchises it owns, including Halo, Fallout and Elder Scrolls, the people said. Fallout and Elder Scrolls are two particular areas of focus for Sharma

>Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood have approved of Sharma's plan to spend more on top-tier games in the coming fiscal year beginning in July, although the budget is not yet locked in and could change, the people said.

>Nadella and Hood haven't ruled out restructuring Xbox's relationship to Microsoft at some point in the future if doing so would make Xbox a more successful business, the people said. Options on the table could include making Xbox a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, a joint venture or spinning out Xbox entirely, the people said.

>Microsoft doesn't have any imminent restructuring plans, but those options are on the table, the people said.

Per Jason's Reporting

>Xbox is planning major layoffs in July, shortly after Microsoft’s fiscal year closes on June 30.

>Bloomberg also reports that Xbox pulled a Halo trailer from a PlayStation event, damaging the relationship between Microsoft and Sony.

>Xbox is also planning to cut marketing budgets and other business-area spending, not just headcount.

>In an internal email, Sharma said Xbox had fallen to a 3% accountability margin, Microsoft’s internal profit-margin metric.

>Excluding Activision Blizzard King, Xbox spent over $20 billion over five years on content, platform, and hardware subsidies, while annual revenue declined by nearly $500 million.

>Sharma admitted Xbox expanded its studio system to support several strategies at once: subscription, streaming, and devices, but has since become overextended.

>Xbox’s multiplatform strategy helped games like Indiana Jones and Forza Horizon reach bigger audiences on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms.

>Sharma and her team are now saying future games will be handled case by case.

>A PS5 version of Gears of War: E-Day was in development and had been planned for release before Sharma changed course.

>Exclusivity push is a massive gamble: it may excite diehard Xbox fans and help the brand, but it could also cost Xbox significant revenue.

>Per Sharma “My mandate is not a 30% accountability margin. It’s not enterprise software margins. It’s to be the number one gaming and entertainment company.”

• Ubisoft reported a record annual loss of nearly $1.7 billion for FY2025–26.
• Net bookings down 17.4% to $1.78 billion.
• The company is in the middle of a major restructuring after years of delays, underperforming releases, cancellations, and cost-cutting.
• Former Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent is joining Ubisoft’s Tencent-backed Vantage Studios as a special adviser.
• Ubisoft expects another rough year in FY2026–27, forecasting an 8–9% sales decline

If I were a betting man, I’d say their major seminal releases from Gen 7 are going to be fully remade.