Gears of War: E-Day’s story director has been laid off, just one week before the game’s early access launch.

Earlier today, Microsoft continued its ongoing reset of the Xbox brand, resulting in 268 staff members losing their jobs across a number of studios. Many of these employees seemed to be veteran or senior talent, one of the most prominent examples being Juan Vaca, a story director at Gears of War developer The Coalition. Vaca confirmed he was part of the latest round of Xbox layoffs after being with the company for four years.

The news comes at a pretty brutal time, as Vaca just publicly celebrated the game going gold last week, and the title will enter early access next week, five days before its global launch. It’s unclear what Microsoft is planning to do with The Coalition after Gears of War: E-Day’s launch, but cutting key talent doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence.

This isn’t the only oddly-timed layoff, either. Halo Studios’ cinematic director Josh Daniels was also laid off, just one day after getting a promotion. Halo Studios’ fate is a lot clearer, however. Activision is taking charge on the future of Halo, while Halo Studios is being gutted. A small team will remain on to support existing Halo games, but a new team is being built under Activision to develop the next mainline game in the franchise.

Gears of War’s future hasn’t been outlined much by Microsoft. When E-Day was announced years ago, it was suggested that the team would eventually return to the ongoing storyline that was left hanging at the end of Gears 5. However, it’s unclear if that’s still in the cards with all of the changes happening at Xbox.

Cade Onder

Freelance Writer

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.