Xbox lays off 268 more employees, merges Obsidian into Bethesda, and puts Activision in charge of Halo

What happened

• Xbox executive vice president and chief content officer Matt Booty has announced another round of layoffs and studio reorganizations as part of the continuing "reset" of Microsoft's gaming division
• Xbox has cut an additional 268 employees "across Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and the XGS management and central functions layer," which Booty says brings the company "roughly three-quarters of the way" to completing its downsizing plan that previously put 1,600 people out of work in June
• Activision is now developing the next Halo game with "a new, purpose-built team," and will also oversee Rare and Age of Empires developer World's Edge
• Obsidian will be folded into Bethesda, and will continue its current projects like Grounded and the previously-announced "new Fallout project made in collaboration with Bethesda Game Studios"
• Pla...