It used to be a joke that the Xbox had “no games”, and given the lackluster line-up of Xbox One exclusives, that's not surprising – we're talking Halo 5: Guardians, Kinect Sports Rivals and Powerstar Golf here. Things have turned around for the console giant in recent years, with even more studios under its belt finally getting games out the door, but very few are doing it well. 2025 was a particularly bad year for Xbox, as most of its big games – from The Outer Worlds 2 to Avowed and Forza Motorsport – simply fell short of expectations.
Newly appointed Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been brought in to finally turn the console around after two disastrous generations, and while that has so far meant slashing the price of Game Pass, limiting Copilot for games and addressing long-neglected community issues, the heart of any gaming company is its games. According to a new report published by The Information, three anonymous sources claim that Sharma plans to cut underperforming studios and use the funds to invest in heavy hitters – Fallout, The Elder Scrolls and Halo.
What this means for the rest of Xbox
It's been 11 years since Fallout 4 was released, eight years since The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced (15 since Skyrim was released), and five years since Halo: Infinite. The Xbox Series X/S was seriously lacking in the flagships. The next Halo is a remake; The Elder Scrolls 6 may not be finished until 2030; and Fallout, outside of remasters, won't be back until after that. Fans aren't the only ones frustrated – Xbox is too, and Sharma is now trying to cut down on long development cycles and get these games out faster.
Sharma is also reportedly planning to invest more in Minecraft.
That might sound like an exciting prospect, and I'm sure there will be fans arguing about how Xbox will bypass Bethesda to finally get new Fallout games out the door, like getting Obsidian for more spin-offs, but it's not without trade-offs. Unfortunately, spending across Xbox won't change in 2027, so funding these games means reallocating resources and cuts elsewhere, which may explain the upcoming layoffs. There are even whispers that the studio will close, with some speculating that Double Fine – the team behind the brilliant Brutal Legend and Psychonauts – could be under threat.
It would also mean far fewer double-A projects, pointing to a more risk-averse Xbox that will instead use those resources to focus on its consistent earners rather than building a diverse library for its Game Pass subscription. Still, this might be exactly what Xbox needs right now, though it's hardly a short-term fix. No matter how much money you throw at a studio, developing games still takes time – now more than ever.
- Released
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2026
- ESRB
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m
- Developers
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Bethesda Game Studios
- Publishers
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Bethesda Softworks
