The studio that steers the Age of Empires brand has been hit hard. World’s Edge lost close to half of its employees this week as part of Microsoft’s newest round of job cuts, and the project the team was working on next never made it out of the door.
What exactly happened
The layoffs at World’s Edge are part of a wider wave that removed 268 people across the Xbox business. Microsoft is working toward a projected total of around 3,200 job losses during the current financial year, so this is not an isolated decision aimed at a single team.
On Monday it was announced that World’s Edge would move under the Activision umbrella. At that moment it wasn’t clear what the reorganization meant for the people there. Over the following days, affected employees started sharing the details themselves: roughly 50% of the studio is out of work and the next project has been cancelled.
What the affected developers said
Studio creative director Adam Isgreen, who spent 16 years at World’s Edge, wrote on LinkedIn that he is disappointed this is how his time with World’s Edge and Age ends for him and many talented teammates who were also impacted, adding that the team had great plans for what came next and that he hopes the remaining staff can rise to the occasion later on.
Senior software engineer Andrew Martz confirmed the same picture: the studio was reorganized under Activision, and as part of that reorg the next project was cancelled and a large chunk of the studio was laid off, himself included.
Lead principal software engineer Greg Snook described how the news reached him while he was on vacation, with a message he hadn’t expected. He also noted that his last day with building access lined up exactly with his 25-year hire anniversary at Microsoft.
What it means for Age of Empires
World’s Edge acted mostly as a steward of the real-time strategy series rather than a single in-house factory. Development leaned on external partners – for example Relic Entertainment was the primary developer of Age of Empires IV, which launched on PC in 2021 and has since been ported to Xbox and PlayStation consoles.
That’s why it’s currently unclear what comes next for the studio and for the brand as a whole under Activision. A new mainline entry in the series still looks like a matter of time, but the remaining staff could just as easily be pointed at other work now that Activision also oversees Xbox’s biggest shooter brand. For now, nothing beyond the reorganization itself has been confirmed. If you want to keep track of where the series goes from here, we cover it in our Age of Empires news section.
The series keeps shipping in the meantime
Despite the turmoil behind the scenes, content is still landing. The Viking Sagas DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition launched on Tuesday and brings three brand new civilizations, 15 new single-player campaign scenarios and more, so if you play the Definitive Edition, there’s something new to jump into right now.
FAQ
Nearly 50% of the studio, according to affected employees. The cuts are part of 268 job losses across the wider Xbox business.
They are part of Microsoft’s latest round of layoffs, which is working toward a projected total of about 3,200 job losses in the current financial year. World’s Edge was also reorganized to sit under Activision.
Yes. Employees said the studio’s next, unannounced project was cancelled as part of the reorganization.
No such announcement has been made. The brand continues, but it’s unclear what its future under Activision looks like or when a new mainline entry might arrive.
Yes. The Viking Sagas DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition launched on Tuesday with three new civilizations and 15 new single-player campaign scenarios.