Microsoft’s recent move has set off a series of changes at its studios that will be talked about for a long time (and we’ll be covering it…).
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is reportedly making a major effort to support Bethesda Game Studios’ highly successful franchises, such as The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, even though BGS is among the studios most affected by the recent layoffs. ZeniMax Online Studios, the developer of The Elder Scrolls Online, was forced to lay off 213 employees. This compelled the team to revise the game’s previously announced development schedule. BGS itself has also suffered a severe blow. The union has indicated on social media that dozens of people have been laid off, which makes the road to releasing The Elder Scrolls VI even more difficult. According to IGN, studio sources are concerned about the highly anticipated sequel to 2011’s Skyrim.
Several veterans have left, including Christiane Meister, the lead character designer. She spent 27 years at BGS, working on games such as the three most recent Elder Scrolls titles—Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim—as well as Fallout 3 and Fallout 4.
There is concern that these experienced developers will be replaced by cheaper, less experienced staff. While these new hires get used to the studio’s proprietary tools and unique workload, the release of The Elder Scrolls VI will be further delayed. Their departure will significantly impact the game and the studio’s morale.
The team includes people from a variety of professions, including programmers, graphic artists, and designers. One person has been with the company ever since development on Morrowind halted. The team is afraid that they will be replaced by cheaper contract workers or that the company will hire people who need training. The tools are proprietary, so other developers won’t know how they work. This will cause further delays and force the team to work overtime to make up for lost time. Everyone was excited and enthusiastic about The Elder Scrolls VI, but this has had a devastating effect on morale. There has already been strict discipline at the company, and the employees fear this will delay the release of the game (though they don’t know if a final release date has been set). It appears the company intends to replace talented former employees with outside contractors. They’ve heard that they’re being asked to train new contract employees even though they have no idea how they’ll update Fallout 76 without hiring an outside studio.
It would have made sense for Sharma to transfer talent from experienced studios in the Xbox portfolio to teams like BGS instead of laying off experienced professionals. That would have been a logical move. People are already saying that The Elder Scrolls VI is at least two years away. Given these layoffs, we might have to wait until 2030. Overall, Xbox’s strategy remains confusing and incomprehensible to the public, much to the chagrin of fans of the brand and its games.
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