Ben Starr Blasts Microsoft With “Multiple Lies” Claim Over Xbox Layoffs

Ben Starr is accusing Microsoft of telling multiple “lies” leading up to Xbox’s major round of layoffs. The award-winning performer made the comments while broadening his criticism of the decisions that have brought the Xbox business to its current state, noting that company leadership has admitted the operation is “not healthy.”

On July 6, Xbox confirmed layoffs that will hit 3,200 employees. Roughly half of the positions are being cut right away, while the rest are set to disappear across the division’s current fiscal year, which runs through June 2027. Overall, the changes will reduce Xbox’s workforce of 15,000 by about 20%, representing the division’s biggest restructuring so far and the largest layoff wave in gaming history.

Xbox is positioning the job cuts as a way to reshape the organization, but the move has also spotlighted what many players and observers believe has been going wrong for years.

Quick facts: what Starr claims and what Xbox announced

• Ben Starr says Microsoft used “lies” before Xbox’s mass layoffs.
• Xbox announced layoffs on July 6 affecting 3,200 employees.
• About half the roles are eliminated immediately; the rest are planned for the fiscal year ending June 2027.
• The reductions will cut Xbox’s 15,000-person workforce by about 20%.
• Starr argues consolidation was sold as “protection,” but he calls it false.
• He also criticizes a June 2026 Xbox showcase reveal for a third Senua game, calling the communication dishonest.
• Starr rejects Xbox’s “Resetting Xbox” framing of Compulsion Games and Double Fine becoming independent.

Ben Starr Says Xbox Lied About What Its Consolidation Effort Means

Consolidation “is not a good thing,” the actor insists

During a recent appearance on the Pause for Thought podcast, Final Fantasy 16 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 star Ben Starr took aim at the layoffs and the messaging surrounding them. He argued that Microsoft made misleading statements over multiple years—and even in the weeks before the cuts—about what its consolidation push would accomplish.

Starr traced the earliest version of that narrative back to Microsoft’s acquisition push in 2018 and 2019. In his view, the company framed consolidation as a safeguard for creative teams. “It might not have looked like a lie back then, but it’s now understood to be a lie that consolidation is a good thing,” he said.

He urged listeners to rewatch Microsoft’s showcases from that period, describing the tone as “hubris.” Starr said the implied promise was that smaller developers would gain the financial stability needed to tackle ambitious projects after joining a larger corporate parent.

Summarizing the message he believes Xbox and Microsoft sold, Starr said: “Consolidation is a good thing. Consolidation is protection.” He then rejected the idea directly, arguing, “It’s just not true.”

For reference, the 2018 era is when Xbox began a major “shopping spree” phase that kicked off its modern push in game development. Microsoft acquired Playground Games, Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, Compulsion Games, Obsidian Entertainment, and inXile Entertainment, in that order.

Starr’s core contention is that what sounded reassuring at the time has since been disproven by events.

Ben Starr Calls Out Xbox’s “Dishonest” Senua 3 Announcement

The second problem Starr raised was more immediate, tied to Xbox’s June 2026 showcase. He criticized the presentation for announcing a third Senua game from Ninja Theory and promoting it as a day-one release for Xbox Game Pass, even though, in his telling, Xbox had no real plans to fund the project.

Starr’s remarks appeared to align with a recent Game File report claiming that Senua was revealed primarily to attract buyers for the developer. Afterward, Xbox said it had managed to find a buyer for the studio, but Starr still called the original announcement dishonest.

“Was it so hard for you to take that [Senua reveal] out?” he asked. He added that the company’s communications, from his perspective, suggested “we are willing to lie,” and questioned what that would mean for trust going forward. He also argued the situation wasn’t simply “an individual’s problem,” but rather a broader “marketing problem.”

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Starr also targeted Microsoft’s interpretation of studio independence moves involving Compulsion Games and Double Fine. He said the company portrayed the transition positively, but he disagreed with the framing.

On July 6, Microsoft sent employees a “Resetting Xbox” memo stating that the two studios would keep their intellectual property and game catalogs. The memo also claimed they would receive enough financial support to start work on their next projects.

Starr dismissed the spin, saying, “It’s amazing how they’re trying to spin it,” and rejecting the idea that these changes are “good news.” In his view, many people he knows are dealing with difficult outcomes, because “they’re losing their jobs and they don’t know why,” he said.