# Gears of War: E-Day narrative director laid off before launch

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/xbox-lays-off-gears-of-war-e-days-story-director-barely-two-weeks-before-the-games-launch/
- Published: 2026-09-23T14:01:08+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-23T20:23:55+00:00
- Original publisher: Eurogamer
- Original article: https://www.eurogamer.net/gears-of-war-e-day-story-director-laid-off-xbox-cuts
- Topics: Art, Culture, Entertainment, Gaming

## Key points

- Gears of War: E-Day’s narrative director was laid off before launch.
- Microsoft cut 268 Xbox-related jobs.
- Several major studios were reorganised or downsized.

## Summary

Juan Vaca, the narrative director of Gears of War: E-Day, was laid off by Microsoft less than two weeks before the game’s 6 October release. Vaca had worked on the project for more than four years and announced his departure days after celebrating that it had gone gold, meaning it was ready for release. Reports indicated that fewer than a handful of Coalition developers were affected, apparently for reasons separate from the wider restructuring.

The cuts resulted in 268 redundancies across Xbox and major changes to its studio structure. Rare and World’s Edge moved under Activision, Playground and Turn 10 were set to merge around Fable and Forza, and Obsidian began reporting to Bethesda. Halo Studios was significantly downsized, future Halo development moved to Activision, and Ninja Theory was reported to be heading towards closure after potential ownership deals failed.

## Coverage

- [Eurogamer: Gears of War: E-Day narrative director laid off before launch](https://www.eurogamer.net/gears-of-war-e-day-story-director-laid-off-xbox-cuts)
- [GameSpot: Gears of War: E-Day Story Director Laid Off Just Before Launch](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gears-of-war-e-day-story-director-laid-off-just-before-launch/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.