Layoffs have begun at Ninja Theory. More than ten employees have said publicly that they lost their jobs or are at risk, turning Microsoft’s proposed closure of the Hellblade studio into an immediate reality for the developers who built its games.
Employees are now confirming the cuts
As of October 5, more than ten Ninja Theory employees have posted on LinkedIn that they have been laid off or placed at risk of redundancy. Journalist Chris Kerr first gathered the posts on BlueSky, and Video Games Chronicle covered the developing situation.
The wording differs because Microsoft is still moving through the required process in the United Kingdom. Some workers have already described losing their roles, while others say their positions remain at risk as consultation continues.
The September reset set this in motion
Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty’s September 22 “reset” memo revealed 268 layoffs across Xbox and confirmed that Microsoft had started consultation on a proposed closure of Ninja Theory.
The memo also said two separate agreements to sell the studio fell through. That detail makes the closure feel less like a sudden first choice and more like the final path Microsoft took after potential exits failed. It does not make the outcome easier for the team now losing jobs.
Closure is proposed—but the impact is already real
Ninja Theory is based in the United Kingdom, where collective redundancies require consultation before a closure becomes final. Microsoft therefore describes the shutdown as a proposal while that legal process runs.
That distinction matters for accuracy, but it cannot hide the human effect. Employees are publicly searching for work now, teams are being broken apart, and the studio’s future is already narrowing before a final closure decision is announced.
The audio team took a painful hit
The cuts appear to have landed especially hard on Ninja Theory’s audio department. Lead sound designer Daniele Galante is among the affected staff, alongside other developers tied to the studio’s sound work.
That is a gut punch because sound was never a background feature in Hellblade. The series’ binaural audio placed voices around the player and made Senua’s perception part of the experience. Losing the people who built that signature should not be reduced to a line in a corporate restructuring memo.
Senua may never reach 2027
Xbox announced a third Hellblade game, Senua, during its June 2026 Games Showcase and targeted the project for 2027. Announcing that game only months before moving to close the studio now looks painfully careless.
Microsoft filed a standalone Senua trademark on September 15, suggesting it wants to keep the intellectual property alive. Keeping a name is not the same as keeping the team that gave it meaning, and it does not guarantee the announced game will ever ship.
Another piece of Xbox’s restructuring
Ninja Theory’s proposed closure sits beside the wider reshaping already covered on the Wire. Halo’s next mainline game is moving to a new Activision-led team while Halo Studios is reduced to a support role. Now another distinct Xbox studio is being dismantled after a major project was announced.
Microsoft can call these moves a reset, but the pattern raises a harder question: what does an Xbox studio announcement mean if the team behind it can be put at risk before the game reaches players?
The bottom line
The legal consultation means Ninja Theory’s closure is not final on paper. For the developers publicly losing work, the damage has already started. Microsoft deserves criticism for presenting Senua as part of Xbox’s future in June, then moving toward closing its creator only months later.
The people affected built one of Xbox’s most recognizable narrative series and pushed game audio into places few major releases attempt. Whatever happens to the Senua trademark, that work—and the developers behind it—should not disappear inside the language of a corporate reset.
Reporting reflects details available October 5, 2026, including employee posts first collected by journalist Chris Kerr and covered by Video Games Chronicle. Ninja Theory’s closure remains a proposal while the required UK consultation process continues.