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Insider Nate the Hate has said that Halo franchise is moving under Activision Blizzard King leadership instead of Xbox Game Studios. Several Xbox studios are also reportedly becoming ABK studios going forward.
The claim comes as part of a broader wave of Xbox changes that VGC's Andy Robinson had hinted were coming imminently, with more details expected soon.
If accurate, this would represent a genuinely significant shift in how Halo is developed and published going forward. Halo was traditionally always under Xbox Game Studios but now, the franchise would effectively become part of Activision Blizzard King's portfolio, sitting alongside Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Diablo.
That's a meaningfully bigger stable of studios and expertise than Blizzard alone, and it's worth remembering Activision itself runs several experienced shooter studios through the Call of Duty pipeline, any of which could plausibly end up contributing to Halo under this kind of structure.
What happens to Halo Studios itself as an entity is less clear. The studio, formerly known as 343 Industries, has already been through a difficult stretch, including a round of layoffs earlier this year following Halo: Campaign Evolved's commercial reception. A move under ABK leadership doesn't necessarily mean Halo Studios disappears, but it does raise real questions about how much creative and structural control it retains going forward.
What could Halo look like under ABK's structure?
This is where things get a bit interesting and exciting rather than just concerning, and there are two quite different directions it could go. On the Activision side, Halo could end up run more like Call of Duty, with multiple internal shooter studios rotating development on campaign and multiplayer.
On the Blizzard side, Halo could lean into decades of experience building long-term, systems-heavy live service worlds, and a persistent, Destiny-style game built around the Halo universe isn't a stretch to imagine given how much of that universe outside the core campaigns remains unexplored.
Which of those two paths Halo actually takes, or some mix of both, isn't clear yet. This is speculation on our part rather than anything confirmed, but it fits with earlier reporting from insider Jez Corden, who said Xbox leadership had been studying how Activision structures its franchises as a possible model for Halo's future.
Are more layoffs coming alongside this?
Unfortunately, yes, that appears to be part of the same announcement. Reports suggest this restructuring is landing alongside a second wave of Xbox layoffs, following July's "Xbox Reset" that already cut around 3,200 roles and saw four studios, including Compulsion Games, Double Fine Productions, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs, leave Xbox ownership entirely. Halo Studios itself is reportedly among the teams affected by this new round.
Nothing here is officially confirmed, yet
To be clear, none of this has been confirmed by Microsoft, Xbox, or Activision Blizzard King. This is based on insider reporting, primarily from Nate the Hate, who has a strong track record on Xbox-related leaks. An official announcement is expected soon, reportedly as early as this week, which should clarify how much of this is accurate.
