--- title: IO Interactive to lay off staff after Xbox exits Project... description: IO Interactive is laying off an unknown number of employees after Xbox withdrew funding and publishing support for its in-development fantasy game, codenamed... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/io-interactive-to-lay-off-staff-after-xbox-exits-project-fantasy-lqokuxen8 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: IO Interactive to lay off staff after Xbox exits Project Fantasy | daily.dev og:description: IO Interactive is laying off an unknown number of employees after Xbox withdrew funding and publishing support for its in-development fantasy game, codenamed... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/io-interactive-to-lay-off-staff-after-xbox-exits-project-fantasy-lqokuxen8 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/LqOkUxEN8.png og:image:alt: IO Interactive to lay off staff after Xbox exits Project Fantasy og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # IO Interactive to lay off staff after Xbox exits Project Fantasy **[Game Developer](https://daily.dev/sources/gamedeveloper)** · 2 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary IO Interactive is laying off an unknown number of employees after Xbox withdrew funding and publishing support for its in-development fantasy game, codenamed Project Fantasy. Bloomberg confirmed Xbox as the unnamed external partner that pulled out, with Microsoft citing a strategic refocus on highest-priority projects. Despite the layoffs, IO Interactive says it remains committed to Project Fantasy and intends to continue development. The studio recently launched James Bond 007: First Light to both critical and commercial success. This mirrors a similar 2025 situation where Xbox halted Avalanche Studios' Contraband project. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. 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