Huge Layoffs at Zenimax, a lot of ESO devs impacted

ZOS_Hadeostry · July 6

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to come in and reiterate what Kevin said. We want to keep this thread open. Make sure to be on topic and keep the rules in mind, especially Bashing. Those posters will be actioned accordingly.

Keep it positive, as always, even during this time.

angrysam319 · July 6

I only ever post on here when I feel strongly about something and unfortunately today is one of those days. I can’t believe the news I am reading, the names I am seeing. I can’t believe Gina and Finn will no longer be gracing the streams, so excited to show us their new content. I’m absolutely gobsmacked!
To everyone who lost their job today, I can’t imagine the shock and uncertainty you must feel but know that the contributions you have made to this game are appreciated by us all! I wish you all the very best for the future and I hope that the following weeks and months will be easy on you and your families. I pray you are able to find homes at other studios quickly and most of all I hope our beloved ESO is not in peril. I really don’t know what I will do if this game ever shuts down. Logging in to ESO gives me an instant wave of calm and peace. The anxieties of the day simply wash away and I’ve never experienced that anywhere else ❤️

wenchmore420b14_ESO · July 6

A sad day in Tamriel. Terrible news. So sorry for Gina, Finn and all the rest. Best wishes. You will be missed.

Legoless · July 6

Devastating

Soarora · July 6

nalline96 wrote: »

You know, reading this list out loud line by line is absolutely devastating. Seeing big names like Slavisek, Stark, and Grub, along with Gina and Finnigan, is a complete slaughter of the game's creative backbone. These people just cut out what makes this game great. When half the active content development team gets wiped out in a single afternoon, you aren't just looking at corporate "reorganization"; we are looking at a complete gutting of ESO as a living game. Even Bethesda's got slammed. Corporate leadership was already steering this ship toward a generic grave with copy-and-paste metrics, and now they have removed the actual navigators. And now Folsom is already saying they are "shifting" b/c the remaining skeleton crew has to figure out how even to keep the lights on. It is completely valid to be absolutely furious and disgusted by this. To watch a massive corporation buy up these beloved studios for billions, only to systematically dismantle the human talent that made them valuable in the first place, is a total disgrace. If this is how people who built ESO for almost 20 years are treated, it's understandable if some of us no longer want to play.

I usually have a massive pet peeve every time someone says “gutted” on the forums. It’s usually an overreaction in my eyes. But this? Yeah, you’re right to say Microsoft gut ZOS.

Earlier I described this as like Christmas but instead of waking up to presents, you wake up to the aftermath of being robbed.

Juomuuri · July 6

This hurts my heart.

I was hoping to come back to ESO once all classes get reworked, and it saddens me deeply that so many ZOS employees got laid off. I wish the best for both the people who we lost, and the people who are still working here. Not sure what this means for the roadmap/dev plans etc, but I keep my fingers crossed.

Nitewalker314 · July 6

I'm absolutely devastated reading the names added to this list.
I want to give my thanks to each name on that list for helping to make ESO what it was and what it is.

I love ESO, it's where I met my now-husband and we spend a bit of time just about every day playing this game together.

I had already thought that the last round of layoffs was bad enough, and now this? It's ridiculous!

I'm still going to support ESO because it's important to me, but I will give the middle finger to its overlords as much as I can, too!

OutLaw_Nynx · July 6

Let this also be a reminder to people to stop using chatGPT or any other AI for their guild flyers or guild related things. Use of these programs only fuels the AI industry.

I’m so devastated for the ESO Team. I’ve spent almost 10 years playing this game. It’s home to me.

Reginald_leBlem · July 6

OutLaw_Nynx wrote: »

Let this also be a reminder to people to stop using chatGPT or any other AI for their guild flyers or guild related things. Use of these programs only fuels the AI industry.

I’m so devastated for the ESO Team. I’ve spent almost 10 years playing this game. It’s home to me.

It might be because I'm getting older but man I really dislike AI. It ruins everything it touches.

CatalinaWineMixer2 · July 6

Getting laid off is devastating to anyone. And their families. Please extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone who poured their time and love into the game only to end up in a terrible layoff.

This is a poor decision and will undoubtedly have negative effects on the game, its future and its entire community.

KrayedoN · July 6

This is NOT the way. I am beyond frustrated. They're slashing jobs for real humans in favor of Generative AI, aren't they? My condolences to the entire team at ZOS and those working on ESO. I've played this game since 2019 and I hope to continue playing. It's been my favorite videogame of all time since then, and I will do whatever I can to keep this game alive. But firing humans and hiring bots is not the way to do it.

Rungar · July 6

Sad but no suprise at all. I thought they would close it down but i guess they can squeeze it a little more. This will break any remaining morale for this game. I guess at the end of the day they see it as a direct competitor to wow which has a required subscription. Thus unnecessary.

Octagneh · July 6

I'm that old guy that use to collect the Commodore magazine each month it came out just to type in the center two pages into a 64 and save it to cassette. On DOS based system I predate CGA monitors, had me a Hercules. And I remember then, what it was that made companies like SoundBlaster and Nvidia have ANY relevance at all.....games. Through all my 8088 through all the iterations of the Pentium, I only met a very few people that needed a video card that cost more than the entire rest of the computer...except gamers. Fast forward to today times, and when Bitcoin came out, am I the only one that felt like Nvidia turned their back on the gaming industry? And it if wasn't the Bitcoin....AI. Nvidia chasing that dollar more concerned with ANYTHING but gaming anymore. If the next hot thing that trends is sewing plaid skirts for elephants, Nvidia will start making sewing machines.
So here we are at this point. Microsoft and all these other game companies have been constantly laying off people in the gaming industry. But Microsoft owns most of the gaming industry at this point. Now here is the sad news I have for Microsoft. Every single person I have met in the past three years....all of them....use Linux for practically everything computer, and they have that one Microsoft computer to play whatever is their favorite game. I don't know anyone that actually enjoys using the Windows OS vs other options.
So, if you are one of those people posting here hoping that this recent situation is not going to kill your current gaming agenda....Microsoft may not know it yet, but they hope the future involves a LOT of gaming, because in a world where people are tired of forced choices, uncontrolled advertising out the wazoo, office software options online now for spreadsheets and documents, and Windows 11 only used because AAA games run smoother on it than emulated elsewise....Microsoft needs to put Azure Blue down so they can see the end of the tracks ahead.

LunaFlora · July 6

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi all. Just wanted to say thank you for the kindness shown to our team members today. Whether impacted by today's layoffs or not, everyone who has worked on ESO appreciates the kindness and grace for the contributions they have made to the game. If you see folks out in the while or on social media, make sure to share extra love today.

We are working on following up with leadership on next steps, so we'll update once we have more info.

wishing you all luck and support Kevin ♥

Synthwavius · July 6

Astiron wrote: »

I can't believe they let Gina go. She was like the face of ESO to us when it came to communications and streams from Zenimax. I wish her, and all of the team, the best moving forward. But man, that hits hard. And it seems pretty short sighted by the suits.

Yeah, I've been away for years and I remembered her (and Jess) more than the game itself. For MS execs, she was just a spreadsheet number, a 'cost center.' They are completely clueless how to run an MMO

CapitanPiluso · July 6

MS is shooting itself in the foot. This is incredibly profitable, yet they're destroying a team that works and generates huge revenue. It's stupidity and short-sightedness beyond belief. They undoubtedly have problems with the Xbox division, but this isn't the solution—cutting back on what works and is profitable. Anyway. It's very sad for everyone. And unfortunately, the C-suite executives responsible for this disaster always come out on top, even reaping considerable profits, despite destroying lives, projects, and companies. A sad day for gaming, for the video game industry, and for everyone who creates them. And the saddest part is, the disaster isn't over yet.

Neyane · July 6

I hope everyone who was laid off can read all our messages. My heart goes out to them all. Some names have been around since the beginning and it is absolutely heartbreaking. I love this game with all my heart, have breaks and always come back. This was like a knife to the heart.I wish them all the best moving forward, today is a very sad day.

Faltasë · July 6

This doesn't bode well for the future of the game. I know other MMOs are surviving with less devs and are basically being ran by a skeleton crew, but what good is the health of the game when so many integral people get laid off? The roadmap for refreshes certainly cannot hit a 2 year mark now. That is effectively doubled or tripled, no other way to look at this.

My condolences to the devs who got laid off, I appreciate the time you spent on this passion project. I hope you find another job swiftly and find peace! I dislike when hobbys turn to grind for some random shareholder who could give a *** less about your art.

I hate Microsoft and this era of capitalism stifling art. Just when ESO was coming back on the up and up, they snuff it. It doesn't make sense when they were making good money.

I don't see a good ending here, but I think cancelling subs may be a bit hasty. Let's give the new team structure a shot before deliberately killing the studio for good.

But their work might be too mighty for them to handle, and we all should be preparing for the worst even if we can still be hopeful about it.

Faulgor · July 6

Absolute travesty.

It seems everyone who had anything to do with actual content is let go. Keep in mind that they already anounced another round of 1600 layoffs in the next 12 months, so anyone left standing will just wonder when the hammer falls.

I have never been so hopeful for ESO's future as during the last 6 months. Everything you've put out, not just in terms of content and updates, but communication as well, has been absolutely stellar. And now ...
There's simply no way this can be part of a just and comprehensible world. It won't fit.

They really bought another Numidium, didn't they?

SilverBride · July 6

Faulgor wrote: »

I have never been so hopeful for ESO's future as during the last 6 months. Everything you've put out, not just in terms of content and updates, but communication as well, has been absolutely stellar.

I have had the exact opposite experience. The game feels gutted by replacing chapters with tasks and I don't see that communication has improved. Maybe that's why I am not completely suprised by this. Unhappy, but not surprised.

colossalvoids · July 6

Some of those people I consider ones of the Elders holding the shambles/legacy of this game together like amazing work of Mike Finnigan or Bill Slavicsek, let alone main face of the game and a link between us and devs like Gina. It was most probably already a mess to deal with but now it's pretty much set to failure with that old backbone missing.

Probably a good time to finally move on also.

DeathandDebauchery · July 6

SilverBride wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

I have never been so hopeful for ESO's future as during the last 6 months. Everything you've put out, not just in terms of content and updates, but communication as well, has been absolutely stellar.

I have had the exact opposite experience. The game feels gutted by replacing chapters with tasks and I don't see that communication has improved. Maybe that's why I am not completely suprised by this. Unhappy, but not surprised.

Respectfully, I do think your in the minority opinion on that one, and the player count reflects this. ESO's player count was at an all-time low in November/December with the post-solstice debacle and that was at the peak end of the "Chapter" content approach. Its been on a steady climb back now to regular numbers since they started focusing on player experience and micro-content. If anything, this has just removed wind from the sails of a MAJOR ESO Resurgence. While it's still an overall decline from the COVID days, the fact that the population is still approximately at the level it was 3 years ago despite being at its lowest point ever 6 months ago is kind of crazy.

Orbital78 · July 6

How many more years will the game remain open?

Parasaurolophus · July 6

I just don't understand how this works. So, is the company going to be left without animators, community managers, artists, and sound designers now? Or what? Or will all that work fall on the shoulders of junior staff?

ArchangelIsraphel · July 6

I am disgusted by these layoffs, to say the least. At this point, 'disgust' isn't even an adequate word for how I feel. Especially when you put two and two together, and come to the realization that the company who caused this, have also created so many other devastating problems in the greater scheme of things. Mourning the fact that my entertainment has been infected by the same "disease" is only the tip of the iceberg.

I'm genuinely heartbroken for the DEVs and other team members who were taken from us by these layoffs. I may have disagreed with some of their decisions over the years, and have certainly let them know that here, but I never held any ill will towards them as individuals. Some of the suggestions I backed have even been implemented recently, including various furniture requests, which gave me a great deal of hope for the games future longevity. I am...uncertain now.

I haven't had a lot of time to play ESO recently, due to real life issues I've had to prioritize for the past couple years. (And computer issues caused by the very same company who are now messing with my favorite game, yet again. >_> ) So it's pretty upsetting to get hit over the head with the feeling that ESO might actually be on it's last legs this time.

Maybe I'm just being dramatic due to the initial shock. ESO has weathered quite a few storms, and I've seen games with smaller teams survive on life support. ESO certainly has more going for it than those games do, yet still.

But gods, it's not even about that, so much as it is about the fact that real people with families have been laid off. And for what? Money? Number crunching? The misinformed notion that we're going to consume AI slop if it's served to us on a pretty enough platter?

What gets me the most is that these were real human beings, who may have made mistakes at times, but they put heart into this game, and they believed in it. They were genuinely creative. No, it wasn't perfect every time. No, I didn't always like everything that was produced, and there was certainly room for improvement. But they were making those improvements, and they were listening to us. I am saddened that their journey with ESO has been cut short, because I believe they would have stayed with us, and fought for us, to hit that 30 year mark they seemed so excited about. They didn't deserve this. Neither did their families. They have my best wishes for the future, truly.

You know, it's funny. I recently replayed the Coldharbor quest line. Listening to Molag Bal gloat to himself, you begin to see the soul shriven as an allegory for what companies with the most power do to everything they touch.

Tandor · July 6

So sorry to hear this news, my sympathy to all those affected and their families.

My thanks to all for the tremendous contributions they have made to ESO over the years, especially to dear Gina who has been an absolute rock to the community.

decaffeinated · July 6

As much time as I've spent waiting for TES 6... if Microsoft doesn't think ESO is part of "The Elder Scrolls", maybe after 10+ years I don't need to play any more TES games.

Just when ESO finally had a chance to actually fix bug... NOPE.

FWIW, I hope ZOS chooses to close the game instead of adding AI. I would support this.

SilverBride · July 6

DeathandDebauchery wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

I have never been so hopeful for ESO's future as during the last 6 months. Everything you've put out, not just in terms of content and updates, but communication as well, has been absolutely stellar.

I have had the exact opposite experience. The game feels gutted by replacing chapters with tasks and I don't see that communication has improved. Maybe that's why I am not completely suprised by this. Unhappy, but not surprised.

Respectfully, I do think your in the minority opinion on that one, and the player count reflects this.

Other players may have different experiences, but this has been the worst year so far for me. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

MehrunesRazor · July 6

Not Gina

she was so nice and she didnt ban me even when i was being a dill and she should have.

What the hell is microslop murdering this game for.

I never believed this game was actually gonna end - you corporate get rid of gina and finn, i guess its a wrap.

Only solace is you will go broke for laying off your star quarterback and one of the best community leaders ive ever had the pleasure of not being banned by (she must have been special) only to leave kevin here bruh its over dawg

Marto · July 6

This is not acceptable.

DeathandDebauchery wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

I have never been so hopeful for ESO's future as during the last 6 months. Everything you've put out, not just in terms of content and updates, but communication as well, has been absolutely stellar.

I have had the exact opposite experience. The game feels gutted by replacing chapters with tasks and I don't see that communication has improved. Maybe that's why I am not completely suprised by this. Unhappy, but not surprised.

Respectfully, I do think your in the minority opinion on that one, and the player count reflects this. ESO's player count was at an all-time low in November/December with the post-solstice debacle and that was at the peak end of the "Chapter" content approach. Its been on a steady climb back now to regular numbers since they started focusing on player experience and micro-content. If anything, this has just removed wind from the sails of a MAJOR ESO Resurgence. While it's still an overall decline from the COVID days, the fact that the population is still approximately at the level it was 3 years ago despite being at its lowest point ever 6 months ago is kind of crazy.
[image]

You mean the Solstice debacle that was likely caused by the 2025 layoffs and cancellation of Project Blackbird, depriving ZOS of the institutional knowledge required to fix the myriad of bugs in the very technically complex Writhing Wall event?