OD Reportedly Safe Amid Xbox Publisher Layoffs and Studio Restructuring
It’s officially July, and with the new month comes the start of a fresh financial quarter—timing that often lines up with layoffs, restructuring, and, in worst-case scenarios, studio closures across major publishing groups. That turbulence is expected to ripple through the Xbox publishing ecosystem, but one upcoming title is being treated as an exception: OD, the Xbox-published game from Hideo Kojima.
OD Won’t Be Affected By The Xbox Layoffs
Reports coming out around the situation suggest that OD may avoid the worst of whatever changes are coming. In particular, a Microsoft contact familiar with the matter believes that the project—along with the studio team building it—will make it through unscathed.
That said, the broader picture is still grim. Multiple claims have pointed out that while some studios face higher risk than others, no one is guaranteed to be completely insulated from Xbox’s cost-cutting. Even teams that might seem too large to close—based on their size and the assumption that Xbox would never take the drastic step—could still see staff reductions as part of restructuring.
For now, the expectation is that OD and Kojima Productions are not in that danger zone. OD is an upcoming horror game developed under a deal Kojima signed to bring the project to Xbox while Phil Spencer was still leading the company. The narrative around the deal also claims that Kojima shared the concept with other publishers, and that those publishers declined the opportunity—leaving Spencer and Xbox as the only parties willing to move forward with the ambitious plan.
“I know OD looks and sounds like something we have never seen in games before,” the commentary adds, “but turning down the chance to publish a Kojima game seems wild to me.”
This Doesn’t Mean All Third-Party Publishing Deals Are Safe
Even if OD is currently viewed as protected, that doesn’t automatically mean every outside publishing arrangement will survive the shakeup. News about OD’s apparent safety surfaced around the same time IO Interactive announced that funding for its upcoming title Project Fantasy had been withdrawn—an earlier belief being that Xbox would publish it right up until the day before the funding update.
Across the past day, the chatter has expanded beyond a single studio or one project. There’s been discussion that Xbox could either shut down or sell Arkane, the team working on Marvel’s Blade. Attention has also reportedly turned toward other companies involved in the Xbox orbit, including Undead Labs and the team behind State of Decay 3, with the broader situation casting a shadow over multiple pipelines.
There’s also a theory tying recent showcases to the current uncertainty. Before the very latest State of Decay reveal shown during the summer event, Senua was also presented during that same showcase. That sequence is now being interpreted as Xbox using the new game to demonstrate Ninja Theory’s value ahead of a possible sale.
