Gears of War: E-Day story director laid off days before early access

The story director of Gears of War: E-Day has been laid off about a week before the game's early-access launch.

Juan Vaca announced the cut on LinkedIn. He said he was affected by Microsoft layoffs, after four years with E-Day developer The Coalition, which he joined in 2022. IGN

The timing stands out. Five days before posting about his layoff, Vaca had posted a celebration of E-Day going gold, the industry term for the final master version being approved for release. The game is scheduled for release on 6 October. Eurogamer

Vaca led the story team, the group responsible for plot, dialogue and cinematics. His departure comes as part of a wider Xbox restructuring that has cut 268 developer roles in total.

Xbox detailed that cut in an announcement published on 22 September 2026. It said it was eliminating 268 roles across Halo Studios, other first-party studios owned by Xbox, and the management and central functions layer of Xbox Game Studios. Xbox

The same restructuring reshapes several studios. Rare and World's Edge have moved under the control of Activision. Playground Games and Turn 10 will merge into one studio focused on Fable and Forza. Obsidian now reports into Bethesda.

Halo Studios has been drastically downsized, with future development of the Halo series moving to Activision. Ninja Theory is heading towards closure after potential new ownership deals fell through.

For fans, this means a finished game is still on track while the teams behind it change. E-Day completed its gold milestone. The early-access period, a paid window that lets players start before the full release date, remains close.

The cuts sit inside a larger reduction plan. Xbox said on 6 July 2026 that it would reduce its team by approximately 3,200 roles throughout its 2027 financial year. Earlier, on 10 June 2026, it said it had reintroduced exclusives, games sold only on its platforms, with Gears of War: E-Day in 2026 and Clockwork Revolution in 2027.

Xbox is led by chief executive Asha Sharma.