Microsoft's latest Xbox restructuring has significantly reduced World’s Edge, the studio responsible for overseeing the Age of Empires and Age of Mythology franchises.
Creative Director Adam Isgreen confirmed that just under half of the team was laid off, including himself. The studio is also being moved out of Xbox Game Studios and placed under Activision alongside Rare and the Halo organization.
A further update revealed that World’s Edge's next project has also been canceled as part of the restructuring.
World’s Edge is losing nearly half its staff
The scale of the cuts is substantial for a studio whose main role has been managing one of Microsoft's longest running PC franchises.
Isgreen said just under half of the team was affected.
Senior Software Engineer Andrew Martz later confirmed that an upcoming World’s Edge project had been canceled during the same restructuring.
| Area | Reported change |
|---|---|
| World’s Edge workforce | Just under half laid off |
| Creative Director Adam Isgreen | Laid off |
| Next studio project | Canceled |
| Studio ownership structure | Moved under Activision |
| Main franchise responsibility | Age of Empires and Age of Mythology |
| Development model | External studios build games under World’s Edge direction |
| Rare | Also moved under Activision |
| Halo | Activision now overseeing future mainline development |
The cuts come despite World’s Edge having spent several years rebuilding and expanding the Age of Empires franchise.
World’s Edge manages rather than directly builds the games
The studio has always worked differently from many traditional first party developers.
World’s Edge was founded in 2019 to act as the permanent custodian of Age of Empires after the franchise spent years being handled by different external developers following Ensemble Studios' closure.
Instead of building every game internally, World’s Edge has generally provided creative direction and franchise oversight while partnering with outside development teams.
Forgotten Empires worked on several Definitive Edition projects.
Relic Entertainment developed Age of Empires IV.
Tantalus Media worked alongside Forgotten Empires on Age of Mythology: Retold.
CaptureAge has also contributed to multiple projects, including Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition DLC, Age of Empires IV's Spectator Mode and Age of Mythology: Retold.
That external development structure means the reduction at World’s Edge does not automatically stop work across the entire franchise.
However, fewer internal staff could still affect planning, coordination and long term creative direction.
Age of Empires expanded significantly under World’s Edge
Since its creation, World’s Edge has overseen a steady series of releases.
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition arrived in 2019.
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition followed in 2020.
Age of Empires IV launched in 2021 as the first new numbered entry in the series since Ensemble Studios closed.
Age of Mythology: Retold arrived in September 2024.
The studio also helped move the franchise beyond its traditional PC audience.
Age of Empires titles expanded to Xbox consoles in 2023.
Age of Empires II and Age of Empires IV later reached PlayStation 5.
A macOS version of the Definitive Edition also arrived in May.
Those releases show that World’s Edge's role extended beyond individual game development. It was responsible for coordinating the broader direction of the franchise across platforms and developers.
Activision is taking control of more Xbox teams
World’s Edge is one part of a much larger Xbox reorganization.
Rare is also moving under Activision.
Halo development is being reorganized under a new Activision team, with Halo Studios reduced to a smaller support focused role.
Obsidian is moving under Bethesda.
Turn 10 is being absorbed into Playground Games.
Ninja Theory is also facing an uncertain future after a reported acquisition attempt failed.
Microsoft is therefore consolidating several studios under larger publishing groups rather than maintaining the previous Xbox Game Studios structure.
The canceled project raises questions about future plans
World’s Edge had apparently been working on another project before the restructuring.
That project has now been canceled.
Isgreen had previously referred to upcoming plans without revealing exactly what they involved.
It is therefore unclear whether the canceled game was a new Age of Empires entry, another Age of Mythology project or something unrelated.
The absence of details makes it difficult to judge how much the cancellation changes Microsoft's existing Age of Empires roadmap.
Ongoing games and externally developed projects may still continue because much of the franchise's production has always been handled outside World’s Edge.
Current Age of Empires support could continue
The studio's unusual structure may reduce some of the immediate impact on players.
World’s Edge has relied heavily on external partners rather than a large internal development team.
That means established developers can potentially continue maintaining games, creating expansions and delivering updates even with a smaller central organization.
However, World’s Edge has historically coordinated those teams and maintained long term consistency across the franchise.
Cutting nearly half of that group could therefore affect decision making, release planning and the number of future projects Microsoft chooses to pursue.
Xbox's wider workforce reduction is still underway
The changes at World’s Edge are part of a broader Xbox reset involving hundreds of positions.
Microsoft recently confirmed another 268 roles were being eliminated across gaming studios and management.
The company has also said that the current restructuring represents part of a larger reduction plan announced earlier in fiscal 2027.
World’s Edge now enters that new structure as an Activision managed studio with a much smaller workforce and at least one canceled project.
For Age of Empires, the immediate future is not necessarily defined by the layoffs alone because development has long depended on external partners.
The bigger question is whether a reduced World’s Edge can continue providing the same level of franchise oversight while operating inside Activision's much larger organization.
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