Bethesda Layoffs Hit Elder Scrolls 6 After 50 Staff Cuts as Xbox Eliminates 3,200 Jobs
Updated
Updated · Push Square · Jul 9
Bethesda Layoffs Hit Elder Scrolls 6 After 50 Staff Cuts as Xbox Eliminates 3,200 Jobs
2 articles · Updated · Push Square · Jul 9
Summary
More than 50 Bethesda Game Studios employees across programming, art and design were reportedly cut, leaving The Elder Scrolls 6 team fearing delays and a morale collapse.
IGN cited anonymous staff saying the losses will have a “substantial and cascading effect” on the RPG, with worries that replacement hiring or contract labor would slow work further because Bethesda’s tools are proprietary.
Bethesda workers said the studio was already running lean, raising fears of crunch on a game that still has no final release date and is already considered years away.
A union memorial for laid-off staff was removed from a common area by HR, according to the Bethesda Game Studios Union, deepening anger inside the studio.
The cuts sit within Microsoft’s broader Xbox restructuring, which is set to eliminate 3,200 jobs and already includes 379 ZeniMax layoffs in Maryland.