Summary
Following the most recent round of layoffs from Microsoft’s Xbox division, details about Blizzard’s in-development survival game,Odyssey, have now leaked online.Microsoft first announced the major layoffsearlier this week, reporting that 1,900 employees from the company had lost their jobs as a result. The layoffs reportedly saw particularly heavy impact on Microsoft’s gaming division, with Activision Blizzard, Xbox, and ZeniMax reportedly seeing the brunt of the layoffs. Now, one of the casualties of the layoffs comes as an in-development survival game from Blizzard.
While not much is known about the game,Blizzardhad reportedly been working on its own survival game since July 2017. Fans have heavily theorized that the game may have found itself in “development hell,” with rumors suggesting that development of the game had only really ramped up over the past two years. Other speculation led fans to believe that the game may actually have been nearing completion, with Blizzard games known to boast long development cycles. Now, with the secretive survival gameofficially canceled, details of the game have begun to surface online.
As reported by PureXbox, several details aboutOdysseyhave now surfaced following the game’s unceremonious cancelation. Blizzard developer Johnny Cash referred to the game as “fantastic” and sang his praises for the work done by the game’s team. According to reports by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier,Odysseywas set toplay similarly to games likeMinecraftandRustwith servers hosting up to 100 players. The game’s engine was reportedly a particular point of conflict, with Blizzard requesting that the team use its in-house Synapse engine while members of the team wished to switch to Unreal Engine.
Blizzard’s Canceled Survival Game, Odyssey
The unfortunateOdysseycancelation comes as part of a major re-structuring at Blizzard as a result of the recent layoffs. Reports following the layoffs have suggested thatmost of Blizzard’s customer support divisionwas relieved from their duties, with Microsoft planning to outsource those jobs. Several community managers were also affected by the layoffs, with some suggesting that the layoffs have left many of Blizzard’s live-service games without proper functioning support teams. Blizzard president Mike Ybarra would also leave the company following the layoffs.
Microsoft’s most recent round of layoffs come as the newest entry in an unfortunate trend within the gaming industry. Following a 2023 filled with layoffs at many of gaming’s biggest companies, 2024 has begun on a similar note with developers like Embracer Group andRiot Games parting with hundreds of employees. The ongoing trend has even spread to gaming juggernaut Unity and social media platform Discord.Odyssey’s cancelation comes as the most recent unfortunate side effect of the continued trend of downsizing throughout the gaming industry.
