{"id":12304,"date":"2026-07-28T22:53:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T19:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/?p=12304"},"modified":"2026-07-29T01:24:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T21:54:58","slug":"xbox-speaks-out-after-double-fine-lays-off-25-percent-of-staff-in-transition-to-independent-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/07\/28\/xbox-speaks-out-after-double-fine-lays-off-25-percent-of-staff-in-transition-to-independent-status\/","title":{"rendered":"Xbox Speaks Out After Double Fine Lays Off 25 Percent of Staff in Transition to Independent Status"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Double Fine, best known for creating the 2005 platform game Psychonauts, has laid off 25.6% of its staff three weeks after Xbox\u2019s massive restructuring efforts were revealed.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The studio announced the layoffs on July 28, 2026, confirming that this downsizing was a direct result of becoming an independent company after Xbox unloaded them as part of its own restructuring earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cAs a small, tightly-knit team, these actions are not taken lightly,\u201d a statement from Double Fine reads. \u201cOnly the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful action. Our transition to becoming an independent company also means becoming a size that we can sustain. The people we are losing were all important. They all made an impact on our games and culture, and they will be missed. We are committed to supporting each affected person as best as we can, and we thank them for their hard work and commitment to the creative spirit we cherish here at Double Fine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Psychonauts 2 Screenshots<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/xbox-speaks-out-after-double-fine-lays-off-25-percent-of-staff-in-transition-to-independent-status.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3027214138 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Xbox also released a statement about the layoffs, confirming that the studio fully returned to its independent status earlier this week, keeping their \u201cIP, catalog, and runway for their next games.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cAs they begin their next chapter as an independent studio, we look forward to seeing what they create next. Double Fine is now fully independent and manages its own operations,\u201d a spokesperson said to Kotaku.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">As revealed by Jason Schreier, Double Fine is a roughly 90-person team, meaning that around 25.5% of staff was cut as the studio shrinks back to a manageable size to match its independent status.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Double Fine\u2019s self-management, as well as that of Compulsion Games (We Happy Few, South of Midnight), was revealed earlier this month. Both studios got to keep their IPs in the transition, with each thanking fans for their continued support and promising to share updates on future projects at a later date.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">This isn\u2019t the first time either development house has been independent; in fact, both were founded as indie studios at the start, with Double Fine famously founded by LucasArts alum Tim Schafer in 2002.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">On July 6, 2026, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma sent out an internal email to staff announcing the most \u201csignificant\u201d restructuring in the company\u2019s history that would impact thousands of employees. 3,200 were on the chopping block, with 1,600 laid off that day. As noted by IGN\u2019s Wesley Yin-Poole, this means about one-fifth of its staff will be impacted, as well as numerous studios Xbox purchased during its infamous buying spree over the last five years.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"poll-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\"><\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cI want Xbox to be one of the few companies that entertains more than a billion people each day and gives everyone the opportunity to create and connect,\u201d Sharma wrote in her email. \u201cI know we can achieve this goal. XBOX has many of the most beloved franchises in entertainment history, talented studios around the world, and we will return to growth in 2027.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cHistory is full of companies that mistake longevity for inevitability. We will not be one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Virginia (she\/her) is IGN\u2019s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she\u2019s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at <\/em>@TheeMissGlaze<em>. <\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/xbox-speaks-out-after-double-fine-lays-off-25-percent-of-staff-in-transition-to-independent-status.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/xbox-speaks-out-after-double-fine-lays-off-25-percent-of-staff-in-transition-to-independent-status.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/xbox-speaks-out-after-double-fine-lays-off-25-percent-of-staff-in-transition-to-independent-status.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/xbox-speaks-out-after-double-fine-lays-off-25-percent-of-staff-in-transition-to-independent-status.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-12304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12306,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12304\/revisions\/12306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}