Xbox is reportedly planning on shutting down Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, and Double Fine. Because of course they are. If you didn’t know, Compulsion Games are the developers behind the Peabody Award winning South of Midnight, Ninja Theory are the makers of the Hellblade series, and Double Fine are the developers of the Psychonauts games.

This comes after CEO Asha Sharma sent out a fairly ominous memo to all current employees, highlighting some of the company’s bloat and financial woes while implying that some harsh decisions are afoot at Xbox. She ends the message by writing, “For some of you, these realities will be surprising and even frustrating to discover. We won’t succeed by hiding hard truths, nor will we succeed by doing the same thing and expecting different results.”

None of this should come as a surprise. Xbox went on a shopping spree a few years ago, gobbling up developers left and right. Purchases that were woefully mismanaged, which led to little to no output in the years following. And the little output they did have didn’t often result in tremendous success for the platform. To be honest, I’m surprised Ninja Theory survived this long and were even given the green light for a follow-up to Hellblade II, given the lackluster performance of that game. Still, it’s ridiculous that they’re on the brink of closure, seeing as the third game in the franchise was just showcased merely a week ago at Summer Game’s Fest.

At least Hellblade II‘s poor commercial success can be something Xbox can point at to justify putting Ninja Theory in this position. You know what isn’t justified? Shutting down Tango Gameworks after they released Hi-Fi Rush, one of the most critically acclaimed titles of 2023 that would go on to garner three million players worldwide. South of Midnight — a game I put in my Top 5 games of 2025 list — also went on to attract over a million players, globally, while winning some very prestigious awards….and, yet, here we are.

So, Xbox, what gives? What’s the barometer here? Or are we just sniping off any company that isn’t producing more Call of Duty slop-aganda?