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Undead Labs head declines to reveal exact layoff numbers after Xbox separation

Undead Labs studio boss Philip Holt declined to disclose how many staff were laid off as the State of Decay developer separated from Microsoft to become independent.

FTMQ Gaming, written by our newsroom0 views

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Picture: GamesIndustry.biz
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Undead Labs studio boss Philip Holt is reluctant to reveal the number of workers lost during the developer's separation from Xbox, GamesIndustry.biz, WN Hub and GameDev.net reported. Holt told The Game Business that it was total heartbreak to part ways with staff, adding that he did not want to reduce affected individuals to a number or statistic. [1][3][4]

Holt stated that he was irresponsibly transparent with workers while navigating the transition to an employee owned studio, GamesIndustry.biz reported. He noted that bringing staff alongside the process helped reduce anxiety rather than keeping them in the dark. [1]

As FTMQ Gaming reported earlier, Undead Labs is currently developing State of Decay 3. The Seattle based developer was founded in November 2009 by Jeff Strain and was acquired by Microsoft Studios in 2018, before separating from Microsoft in 2026. [6][7][8]

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In short

  • Undead Labs studio head Philip Holt declined to share the exact number of staff lost during recent layoffs.
  • The developer separated from Microsoft in 2026 to become an independent, employee owned studio.
  • Undead Labs was originally founded in Seattle in November 2009 and is developing State of Decay 3.

Sources

Every paragraph above points to the numbered items it rests on. Read the originals here.

  1. [1]Undead Labs boss "reluctant to share" number affected by layoffs: "I would hate to reduce the impact to those individuals to a number or statistic"GamesIndustry.biz, 25d ago (the report this story comes from)
  2. [2]Why Undead Labs is sticking with Game Pass for State of Decay 3 despite the Xbox splitWindows Central, 26d ago
  3. [3]The leader of Undead Labs expressed hesitance in disclosing the specific number of employees affected by recent layoffs, stating, "I would hate to reduce the impact to those individuals to a number or statistic"WN Hub, 25d ago
  4. [4]Undead Labs boss "reluctant to share" number affected by layoffs: …GameDev.net, 25d ago
  5. [5]Undead Labs has made some changes to State of Decay 3 after the layoffsInstant Gaming News, 27d ago

Background

  1. [6]Undead Labs on Wikipedia
  2. [7]Undead Labs on Grokipedia
  3. [8]Undead Labs head reflects on transparency during independent studio transition layoffs FTMQ Gaming, 28d ago

Our newsroom writes these reports with the help of software, from the 8 sources listed and nothing else, and checks them against those sources. Facts can still be wrong or move on; the originals are the record. Spotted a mistake? Write to daniel@monsterkong.com.

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