This happened even though Microsoft promised them work until September.

The union at Bethesda Game Studios (BGS) announced that it is filing a legal complaint against Bethesda for continuing to violate Canadian labor laws by prematurely laying off its Canadian employees on July 17, the very day it made a major announcement about the future of Fallout and other games. The timing of Bethesda’s flood of announcements was suspicious. Less than two weeks after Xbox announced that it was laying off 3,200 people and closing four studios, the Microsoft-owned BGS suddenly decided to confirm that Fallout 3 and New Vegas would be released as remastered versions, Obsidian was working on its own Fallout game, and Fallout 5 was in the early stages of development.

The obvious intention was to reassure or convince fans that the loss of hundreds of employees wasn’t such a big deal and perhaps shouldn’t receive so much attention. However, the OneBGS union suggested that the announcement was more of a calculated smokescreen. It stated that Bethesda flooded news sites with announcements of every possible expansion, remake, and sequel while simultaneously and unexpectedly laying off employees at its Montreal office months ahead of the previously promised date and without negotiated severance pay.

“On Monday, July 6, dozens of Bethesda Game Studios employees from across the U.S. and Canada were laid off via video call. They were told they would remain employed until September while the company negotiated severance with the union, which provided some solace and breathing room. However, on Friday, July 17, the affected Canadian employees, who were part of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls teams, received termination letters via email. This was contrary to what they had been told in the Monday calls. The letters stated that the Canadians would receive the legal minimum in terms of severance: eight weeks of pay instead of the minimum legal notice and any outstanding vacation pay. They were also to immediately lose their group health insurance benefits,” the union said.

Before July 17, the Communications Workers of America and CWA Canada, which includes the Bethesda union, had already filed a joint complaint against Microsoft. At the time, CWA Canada President Carmel Smyth told Game Developer that Microsoft had unlawfully terminated the employees without notifying or consulting with the union, even though the employer is legally obligated to do so because collective bargaining negotiations are underway. Smyth added that the union would continue to take legal action against Microsoft as necessary. The OneBGS union has stated that it has done exactly that.

OneBGS claims that Bethesda and Xbox management rely on employees’ work to make millions but discard them once that happens. The cycle of employees paying for management’s mistakes ends here. Microsoft continues to act underhandedly, to put it mildly.

Source: PCGamer, Bluesky, Game Developer