There's a lot of inner turmoil right now within Xbox as mass layoffs loom overhead while leadership weighs up studio closures by the hour. But one thing is consistent throughout all the reporting: Halo, Fallout, Gears of War, The Elder Scrolls, and Call of Duty are the priorities right now.

The only problem is that none of these flagships are in a good spot. Gears of War is reported to have a budget anywhere between $200 to $400 million (though that figure has been disputed), meaning it would need to be the best-performing entry in the series' history just to break even—not to mention that it's remaining platform exclusive at a time when Xbox's playerbase is dwindling; Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls 6 remain years away and have a lot to prove after Starfield; Halo: Campaign Evolved is already mired in controversy for its broad changes to the original, arriving on the heels of Infinite, which significantly underperformed; and to top it all off, Game Pass has eaten into Call of Duty's sales, while Black Ops 7 was drowned out last year by immense fan backlash and steep competition, leaving other studios within Xbox allegedly feeling punished for its failure.

So, what's the solution? VGC's Jordan Middler initially reported that Obsidian Entertainment was working on a Fallout game—a rumor Bloomberg's Jason Schreier quickly refuted. Call of Duty vowed to stop back-to-back sequels after the failings of Black Ops 6 and 7, while once again affirming 'no more silly skins'—an empty promise considering Nicolas Cage was just added to BO7 and Warzone. Then there's Halo. A lot is riding on Campaign Evolved to reinvigorate the franchise, but a "crazy rumor" is making the rounds among insiders that Activision might be handed the reins to get the series back on track.

"I Heard A Crazy Rumor That They Might Put Halo Under Activision"

"I heard a crazy rumor that they might put Halo under Activision, which—I don't, for what it's worth—I don't necessarily believe that right now," Windows Central editor Jez Corden said (via Power Up Gaming). "But if it does happen, you heard it here first, this is the kind of thing that they're looking at, 'How do we structure Halo so it can actually start delivering on the level of potential that it actually has?' Because up to now, I would argue that it pretty much hasn't. They are looking at the way Activision does things a lot, the way Blizzard does things a lot, because Halo could function like a Blizzard franchise."

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Of course, it goes without saying—take this "crazy rumor" with a heap of salt. There have been plenty of conflicting reports on Xbox this week as newly-appointed CEO Asha Sharma makes sweeping changes at alarming speeds. Reports suggest that she is actively reacting to analysts, consultants, and even X threads, demanding that studios turn things around within days or even hours. It's entirely possible that discussions about moving Halo Studios into a strictly managerial role while Activision takes over development occurred, only for the idea to be dropped that same afternoon. Considering the insider game of tennis over whether Obsidian Entertainment had been put on the chopping block, it would hardly be surprising.

Halo: Campaign Evolved Like Follow Followed FPS Science Fiction Shooter Multiplayer Systems Released July 28, 2026 Developer(s) Halo Studios Publisher(s) Microsoft Studios Multiplayer Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op Cross-Platform Play Yes - all platforms 5 Images Close
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