ZeniMax Online Leaders Exit After 200-Plus Maryland Cuts as Microsoft Slashes 1,600 Xbox Jobs
Updated
Updated · Game File | Stephen Totilo · Jul 15
ZeniMax Online Leaders Exit After 200-Plus Maryland Cuts as Microsoft Slashes 1,600 Xbox Jobs
3 articles · Updated · Game File | Stephen Totilo · Jul 15
Summary
Four senior ZeniMax Online Studios leaders — studio head Joe Burba, executive producer Susan Kath, game director Rich Lambert and production director Ala Diaz — told staff they will leave after a months-long handoff.
A Maryland WARN breakdown of 379 eliminated ZeniMax roles showed unusually senior titles, including “studio head,” and Microsoft confirmed that referred to ZeniMax Online as more than 200 jobs were cut there.
Josh Henderson, previously head of business operations, and Nick Giacomini, promoted to ESO game director last year, will take over the Maryland studio.
The shake-up has intensified questions about Elder Scrolls Online’s pipeline, though outgoing leaders said work on Update 51 and later content continues and predicted further growth.
The exits deepen the fallout from Microsoft’s latest gaming retrenchment, which cut 1,600 Xbox jobs globally and has already hit other ZeniMax teams in Maryland, Texas and Arkane Lyon.