We can’t have anything right now because the teams don’t even know what to do. Jess said they’ll get us an updated roadmap when they can.

Soarora wrote: »

We can’t have anything right now because the teams don’t even know what to do. Jess said they’ll get us an updated roadmap when they can.

I think Im just looking for reassurance more thn anything else..

this games been my life and many others since 2015 the thought of it slowly vanshing it an awful feeling.

CptTekashi wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

We can’t have anything right now because the teams don’t even know what to do. Jess said they’ll get us an updated roadmap when they can.

I think Im just looking for reassurance more thn anything else..

this games been my life and many others since 2015 the thought of it slowly vanshing it an awful feeling.

I hear you. I have been hearing so many possible ideas on what the future might bring that it’s impossible to decide who might be right. But we can hope. There is potential that this shakes out for the better and with these layoffs, companies were set loose instead of shut down. That’s the good news. Also if the community is able to have ESO offline servers in the face of a shutdown, also good news. But all we know right now is that ZOS is still going to try.

I'm sure they don't even have the answers yet. They are probably picking up the pieces and doing an inventory of what the laid off people were working on, what capabilities they have left and what can be salvaged, what timelines we're now looking at with the work being split among a smaller team, etc.

My approach..

Haenk wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

I would find it difficult to expect a 1-day turnaround on getting us new solid information. That’s not realistic. With PTS still scheduled later this month, we’ll get something in the coming weeks, I’m sure.

You mean, this decision came completely unprepared and they are now discussing how to proceed?
I wonder what would happen on the stock market, if a billion dollar company announces to massively cut down their core working force/development team due to weaker-than-expected business development?
Trust going down to zero.
You *have* to prepare for those announcements - how hard can it be to prepare a two-liner? "We have adjusted the structure of our development team for the years to come." Saying *nothing* has me interpreting this as "we are axing this completely, but won't tell yet as we want to keep the money flowing in as long as possible".

But they did say something. On day 1. It’s pinned. And I linked it in this thread. So, I’m reading comments under the impression that people know about the statement (again, it’s pinned) and don’t think it’s good enough.

Haenk wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

I would find it difficult to expect a 1-day turnaround on getting us new solid information. That’s not realistic. With PTS still scheduled later this month, we’ll get something in the coming weeks, I’m sure.

You mean, this decision came completely unprepared and they are now discussing how to proceed?
I wonder what would happen on the stock market, if a billion dollar company announces to massively cut down their core working force/development team due to weaker-than-expected business development?

These days, that sends the stock price UP - investors have a very different way of looking at things.

Trust going down to zero.
You *have* to prepare for those announcements - how hard can it be to prepare a two-liner? "We have adjusted the structure of our development team for the years to come." Saying *nothing* has me interpreting this as "we are axing this completely, but won't tell yet as we want to keep the money flowing in as long as possible".

Again, the most common thing we see recently - especially in big companies - is that the people getting laid off generally are NOT told in advance, and are often out the door immediately after their HR meeting (if they're not simply fired by email and told not to bother coming in.)

It feels different because it is different. ESO stopped being ESO when chapters and the story were replaced by tasks for cosmetics.

I wondered why all of a sudden we were getting things we asked for many times through the years, such as overland difficulty, hiding all armor, mounts swimming, helms for companions and other things that we suggested but were never given. These things are nice but they do not make up for everything we lost.

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Just wanted to follow up here. We are still gathering information and asking questions on our end as well. We want to follow up as soon as we can. We have launch for Season 1 and focusing on that for today. It will take some time before we have any additional information to share. But as soon as we have it, you'll hear from us.

Thanks Kevin appreciate you always brother.

sending nothing but love to you and the team

Haenk wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

I would find it difficult to expect a 1-day turnaround on getting us new solid information. That’s not realistic. With PTS still scheduled later this month, we’ll get something in the coming weeks, I’m sure.

You mean, this decision came completely unprepared and they are now discussing how to proceed?
I wonder what would happen on the stock market, if a billion dollar company announces to massively cut down their core working force/development team due to weaker-than-expected business development?
Trust going down to zero.
You *have* to prepare for those announcements - how hard can it be to prepare a two-liner? "We have adjusted the structure of our development team for the years to come." Saying *nothing* has me interpreting this as "we are axing this completely, but won't tell yet as we want to keep the money flowing in as long as possible".

From what has been said in these forums, at least one of the devs had just been told on Friday that they were getting a raise, only to find out on Monday that they had just been fired.

I can neither confirm or refute the accuracy of that, but assuming it's correct, it sure doesn't sound to me like everyone at ZOS knew about this until it happened, in which case I don't see how they could have prepared a statement in advance.

And I doubt the other game companies affected knew that they were about to get gutted, either.

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Just wanted to follow up here. We are still gathering information and asking questions on our end as well. We want to follow up as soon as we can. We have launch for Season 1 and focusing on that for today. It will take some time before we have any additional information to share. But as soon as we have it, you'll hear from us.

Thanks for this Kevin. I think it would be appropriate for us to hear from Nick as soon as you are able, even if its not with an updated roadmap, just hearing Nicks thoughts on the future of the game as Game Director with 50% of staff would be very helpful in inspiring confidence on the future of the game.

Haenk wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

I would find it difficult to expect a 1-day turnaround on getting us new solid information. That’s not realistic. With PTS still scheduled later this month, we’ll get something in the coming weeks, I’m sure.

You mean, this decision came completely unprepared and they are now discussing how to proceed?
I wonder what would happen on the stock market, if a billion dollar company announces to massively cut down their core working force/development team due to weaker-than-expected business development?
Trust going down to zero.
You *have* to prepare for those announcements - how hard can it be to prepare a two-liner? "We have adjusted the structure of our development team for the years to come." Saying *nothing* has me interpreting this as "we are axing this completely, but won't tell yet as we want to keep the money flowing in as long as possible".

It's kind of hard to discuss how to proceed when 61 people get laid off, with most of them being senior/leadership positions. I'm certain they knew layoffs were going to happen, but with the nature of these types of layoffs, they did not know who or how many were going to get laid off.

I'm having a hard time finding numbers, but ZOS supposedly had ~300 employees in 2025 before the layoffs last year. I've seen reports that 200 people got cut during the 2025 layoffs, but am also seeing some say technically none were cut because of their union contract and were able to stay around until October with the chance of getting rehired. I've seen the number 25 being rehired, but there is no clear number. If we do just take the 25, and if no additional hires were done between October til now, you could say that ZOS had ~120 employees left after the 2025 cuts.

Now with these recent layoffs, we know that at least 61 got laid off, so you could estimate that ZOS has 60±10 employees left with most of them being junior/assistant positions. You then have to account for the percentage of people who don't actively work on the game like management positions, web teams, and community managers. With so little left and most of the experience gone, you can't reasonably expect any statement outside the one already given. It's possible to be prepared for a small hit, but something this large is going to need time for anything concrete to come out as they decide who would take up the missing roles and what content needs to be put on hold or scrapped completely. I'm not expecting an update until next week at the earliest.

But I will say take all of this with grains of salt. These are only numbers that I've found when searching the web, and none of them may be correct. For all we know ZOS could've had 200-250 employees before the recent layoffs and the situation isn't as bleak as it seems. All that can be done is to hope for the best and wait for the going forward statement.

Personally speaking I’m not feeling good about things. I kind of expect to see a timeline till servers are shut down pretty soon tbh.

I said the following to someone else who was having an anxiety attack over the future of the game because it was her space for stress relief but I think might bear repeating here: "...take a beat and try to focus on the present. ...the ESO team are still committed to keeping it going... Things only feel unstable *today*. We don't know what will happen later, and I get that that's worrisome and scary, but I want to remind you gently that the more your mind worries about the future of the game, the less you can enjoy it *today*. The game is still here."

I also get that it's depressing and might leave you feeling like there's no point. I've felt that, too. But I choose to have faith in the ESO team and continue to enjoy the game because despite it's faults and quirks and content I can't play because I'm largely a solo player, it's just such a gosh darn fun place to exist in for a little while each day.

The equation will balance out. Always does. Just got keep on keepin' on, like @DenverRalphy does.

Radiate77 wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Just wanted to follow up here. We are still gathering information and asking questions on our end as well. We want to follow up as soon as we can. We have launch for Season 1 and focusing on that for today. It will take some time before we have any additional information to share. But as soon as we have it, you'll hear from us.

Kevin a lot of us are waiting to continue with ESO after these cuts, unsure if there is a future for the game. Many of us played both New World and Destiny 2, and have seen this spiral before, and it’s always delayed roadmaps that signal an end.

Reassuring us with a new, updated Roadmap would be needed sooner, rather than later.

We cannot afford to wait around.

You're asking for them to lie then, you're gonna have to sit and wait just like the rest of us.