Ninja Theory has begun laying off employees after two separate agreements to save the studio both fell through. Several developers announced on LinkedIn Monday that they had either been made redundant or were told their jobs are at risk, following Xbox’s announcement last month that the studio faces closure, according to Video Games Chronicle and Kotaku.
Gameplay programmer Katrin Mair, who spent four years at the studio, wrote on LinkedIn that “it’s incredibly sad knowing that we won’t get to finish what we were working on,” adding, “so much care, talent and effort went into it, and I really wish we’d had the chance to see what it could have become,” according to Kotaku. Performance capture technician Rachel Kimber also confirmed her departure, writing that “Ninja Theory has been some of the best years of my life, but sadly it is time to say goodbye,” Kotaku reported.
The details
Xbox COO Matt Booty announced last month that attempts to find a future for Ninja Theory layoffs had failed. “We will now begin consultation with employees on a proposed closure while continuing to explore other paths forward,” Booty said, according to Video Games Chronicle.
Those consultations have now produced results, with employees confirming layoffs or redundancy notices this week. VGC credited journalist Chris Kerr with first spotting the LinkedIn posts. The exact number of staff affected has not been specified.
The move follows the second wave of Xbox’s broader “reset,” which cut 268 jobs last month on top of 1,600 layoffs in an earlier round, VGC reported. Kotaku reported the total restructuring is expected to eliminate about 3,200 jobs across Microsoft’s gaming division over the course of a year.
What Ninja Theory layoffs mean for fans
The layoffs put the future of Senua, the previously announced third entry in the Hellblade series, in serious doubt. The game was unveiled at the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2026 with a planned 2027 release, but its status is now uncertain, according to VGC.
Game File had previously reported that Xbox was already shopping Ninja Theory to potential buyers at the time of the Senua reveal, using the trailer partly to generate interest from outside parties, VGC noted. That effort does not appear to have produced a sale.
Ninja Theory’s library includes the critically acclaimed Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and its 2024 sequel, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, which Kotaku reported received strong reviews but may have struggled commercially, despite reported popularity on Xbox Game Pass.
Context
Ninja Theory has operated in various forms since 2000, moving between independence and outside ownership before Microsoft acquired it in 2018, according to Kotaku. The studio was grouped with Double Fine, Undead Labs, Compulsion Games and Arkane Lyon as Xbox-owned studios undergoing separation processes during the restructuring.
Double Fine, Undead Labs and Compulsion have since become fully independent studios, with Double Fine and Undead Labs also carrying out their own layoffs as part of that separation, Kotaku reported. Arkane Lyon remains in consultation. Unlike those studios, Ninja Theory was unable to secure a path to independence or new ownership, leading directly to this week’s layoffs.
What’s next
Xbox has said it will continue exploring “other paths forward” for Ninja Theory even as the proposed closure consultation proceeds, per Booty’s statement to VGC. No timeline has been given for when the consultation process will conclude or whether Senua will be canceled, reassigned or released in some form.
Reporting from VGC, Kotaku and Eurogamer contributed to this story.
