{"id":2021025,"date":"2026-07-01T09:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T06:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2021025"},"modified":"2026-07-01T09:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T06:08:10","slug":"007-first-light-studio-ioi-facing-layoffs-as-xbox-pulls-funding-for-project-fantasy-rpg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2021025","title":{"rendered":"007 First Light studio IOI facing layoffs as Xbox pulls funding for Project Fantasy RPG"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">007 First Light studio IOI facing layoffs as Xbox pulls funding for Project Fantasy RPG<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">&#8220;What&#8217;s changing is where we&#8217;re investing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/project-fantasy-art-io-interactive-cropped.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Three fantasy heroes stand looking at a lowering sun in the distance. One is an elf with a long sharp stave on their back; one is a human with a magical staff; and one is a squat and sturdy dwarf holding a glowing hammer. Off to battle they presumably go.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"project-fantasy-art-io-interactive-cropped.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>IO Interactive<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/robert-purchese\">Robert Purchese<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Associate Editor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-07-01T09:08:10+00:00\">July 1, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/007-first-light-io-interactive-hitman-layoffs-project-fantasy?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          15 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"24adb1e6-72cb-4443-8b19-1f32869e160f\" data-name=\"007 First Light\" data-follow-text=\"Follow 007 First Light\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following 007 First Light\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow 007 First Light\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following 007 First Light\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow 007 First Light\" title=\"Follow 007 First Light\"><br \/>\n  Follow 007 First Light<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Xbox has pulled out of a deal to fund and publish the online fantasy RPG &#8211; Project Fantasy &#8211; that&#8217;s in development at Hitman and 007 First Light developer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/io-interactive\">IO Interactive<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/IOInteractive\/status\/2072005107797893315\">IOI released a statement yesterday evening<\/a> announcing that &#8220;a relationship with an external partner on our own IP, Project Fantasy, has come to an end&#8221;. This will result in short-term consequences around &#8220;staffing decisions&#8221;, the statement added, which we can infer to mean layoffs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Project Fantasy is a game, a world, and an IP that we absolutely love and remain 100 percent committed to, now and in the future. This wonderful universe will see the light of day,&#8221; the statement concluded.<\/p>\n<p>In a report published at the same time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-06-30\/microsoft-s-xbox-pulls-out-of-project-fantasy-video-game-from-io-interactive?embedded-checkout=true\">Bloomberg revealed<\/a> the external partner to be Microsoft&#8217;s Xbox division. A spokesperson for Xbox said the company was &#8220;taking a fresh look at where we invest so we&#8217;re focusing on our highest priorities&#8221;. &#8220;We&#8217;re not reducing our overall investment in games. We expect to invest about the same in content as we did last year. What&#8217;s changing is where we&#8217;re investing and the kinds of projects we&#8217;re backing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\" style=\"display: none\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>007 First Light.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=au2-tWLVd18\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/hitman-developer-confirms-development-of-bold-new-online-fantasy-rpg\">Project Fantasy has been in development at IOI for a number of years<\/a>, having been started post-Covid, in around 2021, and formally announced in 2023. I wrote a story about it recently after visiting an IOI studio and learning that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/io-interactive-project-fantasy-rpg\">Project Fantasy had the second-largest development team<\/a> at the company, behind the then approaching 007 First Light but ahead of Hitman. It made it sound as though it was the next game on the studio&#8217;s slate.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Something that IO is well established for is always coming with different game experiences,&#8221; chief development officer V\u00e9ronique Lallier told me at the time, &#8220;leveraging technology and everything, and Project Fantasy is a new IP and that&#8217;s something we&#8217;ve always been very excited about at IO.&#8221; The project is being led by IOI co-owner Christian Elverdam.<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft&#8217;s move comes as newish Xbox leader Asha Sharma reevaluates and reorganises the company after taking over from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/personas\/phil-spencer\">Phil Spencer<\/a> and Sarah Bond earlier in the year. This &#8220;reset&#8221;, as Sharma&#8217;s calling it, is expected to come into full force with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/compulsion-double-fine-ninja-theory-xbox-studio-closures-report\">imminent layoffs and potentially Xbox studio sell-offs or closures<\/a>. Just this morning we heard that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/arkane-may-be-shuttered-blade-cancelled-xbox-layoffs\">decorated immersive sim studio Arkane is another of the studio&#8217;s apparently at risk<\/a>. The restructuring is expected to begin 6th July, Bloomberg notes.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s an unexpectedly bitter turn of events for a studio riding high after the successful release of James Bond game 007 First Light. We called it a &#8220;narrative tour-de-force&#8221; in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/007-first-light-review\">our four-star 007 First Light review<\/a>, and the game <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/io-interactives-james-bond-game-007-first-light-sells-27-million-copies-in-its-first-week-as-dev-reiterates-free-year-one-content\">sold close to 3m copies in its first week<\/a>. The only consolation is that IOI will be pitching Project Fantasy from a position of incredible strength because of this.<\/p>\n<p>Our thoughts are with all of the people affected by this.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Xbox has pulled out of a deal to fund and publish the online fantasy RPG &#8211; Project Fantasy &#8211; that&#8217;s in development at Hitman and 007 First Light developer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/io-interactive\">IO Interactive<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/IOInteractive\/status\/2072005107797893315\">IOI released a statement yesterday evening<\/a> announcing that &#8220;a relationship with an external partner on our own IP, Project Fantasy, has come to an end&#8221;. This will result in short-term consequences around &#8220;staffing decisions&#8221;, the statement added, which we can infer to mean layoffs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Project Fantasy is a game, a world, and an IP that we absolutely love and remain 100 percent committed to, now and in the future. This wonderful universe will see the light of day,&#8221; the statement concluded.<\/p>\n<p>In a report published at the same time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-06-30\/microsoft-s-xbox-pulls-out-of-project-fantasy-video-game-from-io-interactive?embedded-checkout=true\">Bloomberg revealed<\/a> the external partner to be Microsoft&#8217;s Xbox division. A spokesperson for Xbox said the company was &#8220;taking a fresh look at where we invest so we&#8217;re focusing on our highest priorities&#8221;. &#8220;We&#8217;re not reducing our overall investment in games. We expect to invest about the same in content as we did last year. What&#8217;s changing is where we&#8217;re investing and the kinds of projects we&#8217;re backing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\" style=\"display: none\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>007 First Light.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=au2-tWLVd18\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/hitman-developer-confirms-development-of-bold-new-online-fantasy-rpg\">Project Fantasy has been in development at IOI for a number of years<\/a>, having been started post-Covid, in around 2021, and formally announced in 2023. I wrote a story about it recently after visiting an IOI studio and learning that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/io-interactive-project-fantasy-rpg\">Project Fantasy had the second-largest development team<\/a> at the company, behind the then approaching 007 First Light but ahead of Hitman. It made it sound as though it was the next game on the studio&#8217;s slate.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Something that IO is well established for is always coming with different game experiences,&#8221; chief development officer V\u00e9ronique Lallier told me at the time, &#8220;leveraging technology and everything, and Project Fantasy is a new IP and that&#8217;s something we&#8217;ve always been very excited about at IO.&#8221; The project is being led by IOI co-owner Christian Elverdam.<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft&#8217;s move comes as newish Xbox leader Asha Sharma reevaluates and reorganises the company after taking over from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/personas\/phil-spencer\">Phil Spencer<\/a> and Sarah Bond earlier in the year. This &#8220;reset&#8221;, as Sharma&#8217;s calling it, is expected to come into full force with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/compulsion-double-fine-ninja-theory-xbox-studio-closures-report\">imminent layoffs and potentially Xbox studio sell-offs or closures<\/a>. Just this morning we heard that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/arkane-may-be-shuttered-blade-cancelled-xbox-layoffs\">decorated immersive sim studio Arkane is another of the studio&#8217;s apparently at risk<\/a>. The restructuring is expected to begin 6th July, Bloomberg notes.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s an unexpectedly bitter turn of events for a studio riding high after the successful release of James Bond game 007 First Light. We called it a &#8220;narrative tour-de-force&#8221; in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/007-first-light-review\">our four-star 007 First Light review<\/a>, and the game <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/io-interactives-james-bond-game-007-first-light-sells-27-million-copies-in-its-first-week-as-dev-reiterates-free-year-one-content\">sold close to 3m copies in its first week<\/a>. The only consolation is that IOI will be pitching Project Fantasy from a position of incredible strength because of this.<\/p>\n<p>Our thoughts are with all of the people affected by this.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News 007 First Light studio IOI facing layoffs as Xbox pulls funding for Project Fantasy RPG &#8220;What&#8217;s changing is where we&#8217;re investing.&#8221; Image credit: IO Interactive News by Robert Purchese Associate Editor Published on July 1, 2026 15 comments Follow 007 First Light Xbox has pulled out of a deal to fund and publish [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2021025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2021025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021025\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2021025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2021025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2021025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}