Microsoft has cancelled the next project from World's Edge, the studio created in 2019 to oversee the Age of Empires series, as part of sweeping Xbox layoffs and restructuring. The studio was hit particularly hard by the latest job cuts, losing roughly half its workforce, including creative director Adam Isgreen. This matters because it signals a major strategic shift away from supporting the Age of Empires franchise and suggests Microsoft is consolidating resources around a narrower set of flagship series.

The cancellations and cuts occur amid two waves of Xbox layoffs: an initial 1,600 employees in early July, followed by another 268 staff members in a recent reorganisation. During this restructuring, World's Edge was transferred to Activision, whilst control of other studios like Obsidian Entertainment shifted to Bethesda Softworks. Microsoft has explicitly stated it will prioritise existing franchises over new intellectual property going forward, concentrating most teams on major series like Halo and Fallout. World's Edge previously contributed to remakes of the first three Age of Empires games and the new Age of Empires 4, released in 2021.