Hellblade studio Ninja Theory is most likely on the way out. It was slightly overshadowed by the layoffs at Halo Studios and the merging of Rare and Obsidian into Activision and Bethesda, but during Xbox's latest round of mass layoffs, the company confirmed that two deals to save Ninja Theory from closure fell through at the last minute.

Unlike Double Fine and Compulsion, Xbox also explained that a deal could not be struck that would see the studio go independent either, and now Ninja Theory is facing a very likely closure as a result. We don't know when it will happen, but it seems like it's going to be soon, as the company has begun laying off staff.

First spotted by journalist Chris Kerr, and later reported by VGC, it seems like a number of high-profile departures have already taken place, with several developers having shared goodbye messages via their LinkedIn profiles.

Alessio Mellina, Katrin Mair, Xoe Subari, Loong-Wei Ding, Matteo Tummino, Matt Le-Fevre, Pietro Berto, Justin Pedersen, and Daniele Galante are a few of the developers that have been impacted by the layoffs, and have either lost their jobs ore are likely to very soon.

Eight of the studios that Xbox acquired under Phil Spencer are no longer part of the company. That's not even counting those sent into the COD mines.

There is a chance that Ninja Theory may keep its doors open, though it could operate at a significantly lower cost. There's every chance it could be absorbed into Activision as a whole, like so many other developers, and become a Call of Duty support studio, and the fact that we're seeing layoffs rather than an outright closure right now could be a sign that's what's happening.

Source link