
Emmy-winning science journalist @kxan_news reporting in Central Texas. Have a story idea? Send me a tip!
Austin, TX
Joined August 2011
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Eric M Henrikson retweeted
I obtained layoff notices tallying Xbox cuts in Texas and California
TX - Zenimax (id, Bethesda) eliminating 158 roles, including 1 director of engine tech, 4 gameplay designers
CA - Obsidian cutting 52 roles including 2 art directors
More at the link: gamefile.news/p/xbox-cuts-te…
from Bloomberg: Obsidian has cancelled a planned sequel to Avowed along with other unannounced projects.
Josh Sawyer is leading a new Fallout game
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
52 Obsidian employees laid off according to a WARN notice in California gamefile.news/p/xbox-cuts-te…
Eric M Henrikson retweeted
Obsidian is leading development of a new Fallout game.
Avowed 2 has been cancelled.
windowscentral.com/gaming/xb…
Eric M Henrikson retweeted
Make it make sense. id Software is one of the few studios Xbox owns that consistently makes awesome stuff AND makes it in a relatively timely manner (4 years between Doom 2016 and Eternal; 5 years between Eternal and Dark Ages).
Update: 136 employees have been laid off at id Software, a large majority of the studio
➡️ gamedeveloper.com/business/r…
Eric M Henrikson retweeted
♥️to everyone affected by the XBOX news today.
We have some openings over at @2K for those looking to seek out new opportunities. 2k.com/careers/
Eric M Henrikson retweeted
Reportedly roughly 50% of the team at id Software has been laid off as part of the Xbox layoffs.
DOOM: The Dark Ages Revelations launches today.
Eric M Henrikson retweeted
This is an important email I sent today to all employees at XBOX:
Team,
We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I've made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave XBOX to new management. I recognize that a year-long restructuring creates additional challenges. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make all the necessary changes in a single day, and I wanted to be direct about the scale.
I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building XBOX. Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved XBOX. Today's decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication.
Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3–10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected. As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history. We must reset XBOX.
First, we will reset our content portfolio.
Since 2018, we have aggressively expanded our studio portfolio while the number of games created each month across the industry now outpaces the last ten years combined. We now find ourselves competing not only with the largest publishers, but also with smaller independent studios. It is neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio. We have also learned that we are not the best home for every type of studio; in a typical year, we lost 64 cents for every dollar we invested. As we reset XBOX, we will help independent creators succeed by providing open development tools and audiences to realize their vision.
Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to management and transition to independent studios with their IP, catalog, and runway for their next games. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have entered terms to join new ownership with funding to complete and grow Senua and State of Decay 3. In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options.
We are also making reductions across other units, and in some cases, shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects. These changes vary in size across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and XBOX Game Studios. None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions.
In addition, Mojang and King will now report directly to me. These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players. They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX.
Second, we will reset our platform.
We know that great technology gets better when it gets simpler, not bigger. Today, in some parts of the company, work passes through as many as 14 layers of management. Our platform teams are 40% larger than they were at the start of this generation, even as our player base and playtime have declined. That complexity has slowed decisions, blurred accountability, and made it harder to deliver for players. As we reset XBOX, we will simplify.
We will reduce management layers to no more than 5, and where possible, 3. We will deliver success through a flatter organization that is built around makers (individual contributors focused on building), player-coaches (leaders who remain deeply involved in the work while developing their teams), and directly responsible individuals (DRIs) who own key decisions and outcomes. And we will streamline how we work across our tools, with a cleaner code base, shared services, and 50% reduced vendor spend.
Third, we are resetting how we operate.
As XBOX grew our headcount, we became more fragmented. Teams, studios, and functions often operate independently, and it became harder to work towards a shared goal, make the right tradeoffs, and get things done.
For the first time, we are establishing a Chief Operating Officer with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. Helen Chiang has been promoted to this role and will report directly to me. Over nearly two decades at XBOX, Helen has helped build some of our most important businesses, from XBOX Live to leading Mojang and the Minecraft franchise. She will bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results.
Thank you, Dave McCarthy, who is retiring after 17 years with XBOX. Dave has played a defining role in building the platform that millions of players rely on every day and has been a trusted partner through many of the biggest moments in XBOX's history. We wish him all the best.
These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one. The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we've seen before. This year, we'll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we'll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates.
I 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. I 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.
History is full of companies that mistake longevity for inevitability. We will not be one of them.
Asha
Eric M Henrikson retweeted
Bethesda will be overhauled, as part of today's Xbox changes, to focus on key franchises going forward: Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein
[via Bloomberg]
Eric M Henrikson retweeted

ALT Once again, Double Fine Productions will be an independent studio. We're thankful to everyone at Xbox for seven great years together, and for working with us to reach an outcome which preserves our history and culture, and returns ownership of our games to us. To everyone who has reached out to us these past few weeks: Thank you so much for all your kind words, we've been deeply touched by all your messages. We will share more news soon on what comes next. Your continued support is greatly appreciated, Tim & All at Double Fine
Eric M Henrikson retweeted
I don't have this confirmed, but I've heard 35 folks at Bethesda Game Studios lost their jobs to layoffs today. Very sad to hear, and very rough for a studio that had just one round of layoffs, a very small one, in the last 25-plus years.
Eric M Henrikson retweeted
BRIEFING: City of Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Chief Lisa Davis provide details on shooting incidents.
Eric M Henrikson retweeted
Thank you @KXAN_News @ericmhenrikson for featuring "Epic Encounters," our newly reimagined paleontology exhibit exploring Texas’s deep prehistoric past! kxan.com/news/science/austin…
Got to meet with two moms looking forward to a new baby this October and see some cool technology at work; basically a great way to end my week!
kxan.com/news/science/new-iv…
"Meat" no more! Texas' big push against a new type of meal
kxan.com/news/texas-politics…
Texas lakes may be in danger. Rivers are at the lowest they've been in a century amid a hotter and drier summer
Eric M Henrikson retweeted
What is better than Central Texas BBQ?? This incredible piece from @KXAN_News documenting it! Check out the new documentary from KXAN, Family Beef.
Special shout out to @ericmhenrikson and @TomMillerNews
kxan.com/family-beef/
Eric M Henrikson retweeted
MUST-WATCH: Love barbecue, family and history? "Family Beef" is a new documentary from @KXAN_News that premiered yesterday and is now available on KXAN+ smart TV apps and kxan.com/family-beef/
Congrats to @TomMillerNews & @ericmhenrikson & the team behind this!
Today is the day! You can watch our first feature length documentary "Family Beef" on KXAN+ and on our site:
kxan.com/family-beef/


























