follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness

I didn’t realise the game was being developed entirely by management.

Also I hate the “increased agility” line. No-one gets more agile by having to cover the work of laid off folks on too of your own workload.

So much for all those studio purchases. What a waste.

News of Everwild’s cancellation arrives amid more layoffs at Microsoft; the company is reportedly slashing nearly 9,000 jobs as part of new cuts at Microsoft.

Wow. It was rumored to be a big layoff, but 9,000 is way over any forecast. And this is what? The third so far since Covid? Is there anyone left working for them, at this point? Or is it all seasonal contractors?

EDIT: turns out that they gutted The Initiative (the supposedly AAAA studio that never released anything), cancelled Everwild, cut 50% of Turn10, 10% of King, and cancelled an unknown number of unannounced games, including one MMO title developed by the TES Online devs.
What a bloodbath. But hey, at least Phil is safe.