Craig Duncan, the head of Xbox Game Studios, has reflected on some of the momentous moves Microsoft made in 2025, which included cancelling games, laying off staff, and shutting down development studios. Duncan said in an interview with GamesRadar that the decision to cancel games like the Perfect Dark reboot and Rare’s new game Everwild was “difficult,” but he said it was also necessary.
“Sometimes business decisions have to be made, which have wide reach and impact. We don’t like doing that. So the lesson is: how do we make sure we don’t have to do that? That’s really the goal there,” he said.
Part of Duncan’s job is to perform portfolio reviews, he said, and sometimes these reviews lead to difficult outcomes for specific teams and projects.
