Fallout 5, The Elder Scrolls 6, Blade, and More: As Xbox Layoffs Hit Hard, What’s Going on at Bethesda?
Bethesda studios have been significantly impacted by a major Xbox Game Studios restructuring this week that resulted in the loss of 1,600 jobs across the division. Multiple Bethesda-owned studios were affected, including Bethesda Game Studios (developer of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises), id Software (known for the Doom franchise), and ZeniMax Online Studios (which develops The Elder Scrolls Online).
According to Maryland WARN Act notices, the layoffs included 213 employees from ZeniMax Online Studios’ Cockeysville office and 166 positions from ZeniMax Media’s Rockville headquarters, totaling 379 cuts in Maryland alone. id Software’s Richardson, Texas location saw 96 employees laid off, with an additional 40 remote positions eliminated across the company.
The exact scope of the impact on specific game projects remains unclear, as Bethesda maintains blended teams across multiple studio locations. This makes it difficult to definitively determine which titles or projects were most affected by the cuts, though the scale of the layoffs suggests potential impacts across multiple franchises.