Xbox Layoffs Cut Halo Cinematic Director Days After Promotion

Josh Daniels, a cinematic director at Halo Studios, was laid off by Microsoft days after receiving a promotion.

Daniels was among 268 employees affected by the latest round of Xbox layoffs, which are part of a broader plan to eliminate 3,200 jobs across Microsoft's gaming division.

"Promoted and laid off in the same week is pretty wild," Daniels wrote on LinkedIn.

He added, "I’m one of the many hit by the Halo Studios layoffs. I’ll be taking some offline time today but very much would love to talk to anyone looking for Cinematic Direction or Production roles. Feel free to get in touch if anything looks like I might be a fit."

The job cuts were announced by Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty and affect Halo Studios, other first-party developers, and central Xbox management teams.

Daniels had worked under the Xbox umbrella for 11 years.

Before joining Halo Studios as a cinematic director in July 2024, he spent eight years and 10 months at Turn 10 Studios, contributing to the Forza Motorsport games.

At Halo Studios, he oversaw cinematic direction, story presentation, and in-game cutscenes, including work on Halo: Campaign Evolved, which received a lukewarm player response following its release earlier in 2026.

The layoffs coincide with a strategic shift for the Halo franchise, with development of the next game moving to Activision.

Halo Studios will continue to support existing games and the player community.

The restructuring is part of a corporate "reset" under Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, involving studio changes, layoffs, and franchise shifts.

Microsoft has already cut more than 1,600 Xbox employees in 2026, with another 1,600 cuts reportedly planned before the fiscal year ends.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella discussed the strategy in a Sept. 25, 2026, interview, stating he feels "fantastic" about Xbox's intellectual property and studio portfolio but acknowledged the need to improve the business model.

"There’s some amount of streamlining the team is doing," Nadella said, adding that Xbox needs a sustainable model capable of reaching more people across PC and Xbox.

He said the company expects Xbox to achieve growth in the next fiscal year and that Sharma and her team are executing that plan.

Xbox's stated ambition under Sharma is to reach more than one billion people each day.

That target comes against a backdrop in which Microsoft has not publicly disclosed current Xbox console sales and previously reported 500 million monthly users across its platforms in 2025.

Daniels studied at Arizona State University from 2005 to 2007.

The sweeping workforce reduction has drawn criticism from industry observers and affected professionals who have voiced concerns over corporate timing and job security on professional networking platforms.

As Microsoft continues its organizational overhaul, affected creators are actively seeking new opportunities across the interactive media landscape.