Regarding "ESO is dead" sentiment in light of the layoffs

Arunei · July 6

UPDATE:

baratron wrote: »

Some good news for a change. This is important.

According to both Jason Barnes (Associate Design Director) and Jessica Folsom (Associate Director of Community Management), Zenimax Online Studios is now at the same size as it was when they made both Wrothgar and Summerset.

Which, as we know, are both highly acclaimed DLCs.

So while the layoffs are extremely upsetting for everyone involved (of course including players), this is not necessarily the end of new content or the game going into maintenance mode.

Nick Giacomini (Game Director) and Susan Kath (Studio Executive Producer) are specifically not at the ESO Tavern because they're working on the new Roadmap of when content will be released. It really is not the end yet.

Also @ZOS_Amy and @ZOS_Kevin have been confirmed to still be at the studio.

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Just wanted to follow up on this as well. We are planning a revised roadmap, however as noted above, Nick and Susan are working on timing and taking care of our team, in what has been understandably a difficult week.

The plan is still to deliver great content, and we will hopefully have an update soon. Just wanted to thank everyone for the kind words and concern for everyone at the studio and everyone impacted by layoffs. We know that everyone appreciates it.

Also apologies for any delay in follow up from me this week here on the forum. I'm currently at the Tavern.

I want to preface by saying this situation is <words I'm not allowed to say>. The layoffs very much feel to me like the ones at the top looking for ways to push more money to themselves and I don't agree with them in the slightest. (ETA since the initial news broke I've had time to consider things, especially information that wasn't available at the time. I still sympathize deeply with those who were let go but no longer feel like this was simply done as a means of getting those at the top more more money.)

However, the amount of "ESO's done for" I've seen around here and in places like Reddit is something I wanted to address. While it's awful for everyone who got laid off and it's no small number of people who were, at the same time things are too early for us to tell what the effects of these layoffs will be. It's entirely possible things could indeed be bad, but it's also entirely possible that things just slow down for a while but the game comes through on the other side of it all.

It's completely understandable to be worried about the future of the game, but at the same time troubling news can make emotions run high in the moment. Instead of getting worried about things that might not ever come to pass, I'd suggest everyone wait until we get the information Kevin mentioned them working on getting and the updated roadmap that Jessica has said will be coming.

And to clarify I don't try to mean to imply everyone should only be uber super optimistic, but rather that judgement should be withheld until we have more information on the state of things. No one has to or even should pretend everything is perfectly okay, because for those affected it isn't, but in regards to the game itself, being overly pessimistic won't do anything but make one more upset. So let's give it some time and see what we get told in the coming weeks (or however long it winds up being before we have more info).

LunaFlora · July 6

i agree, the pessimism really is not helpful.

i understand being upset, i am too, but ZOS still exists and supporting them and ESO helps them more than the negativity i see all over

Eldovar · July 6

This is exactly what players of Destiny 2 said a while ago when layoffs happened.

LennaTheRussian · July 6

Eldovar wrote: »

This is exactly what players of Destiny 2 said a while ago when layoffs happened.

Difference is that Bungie moved onto another game, that's why Destiny 2 died. Zos already got denied another game.

allmyxlvntx · July 6

Agree and as for myself want to support the remaining team as best as a player can do so.

Rungar · July 6

multiple rounds of layoffs destroy game morale as people see games like this as a longterm investment of time. The layoffs demonstrate that the investment they are making will not be rewarded (with content). Thus morale drops, numbers drop and further cycles of layoffs though i imagine there will only be one more round. Its perfectly reasonable to extrapolate that this might very well be the end of eso.

Unlike other games they cant just sell off the elder scrolls to some 3rd party for maintenance duty. They will have to shut it down when it becomes unprofitable if it isnt already to salvage the franchaise.

Eldovar · July 6

LennaTheRussian wrote: »

Eldovar wrote: »

This is exactly what players of Destiny 2 said a while ago when layoffs happened.

Difference is that Bungie moved onto another game, that's why Destiny 2 died. Zos already got denied another game.

Destiny didn't die. They keep the game as is.

I don't expect much from ESO except some minor things, shop updates and battlepasses.

That's why we got 'managing expections' post so quickly about the roadmap.

Microsoft did the same with Sea Of Thieves a while ago.

LittleLionLeone · July 6

Eldovar wrote: »

LennaTheRussian wrote: »

Eldovar wrote: »

This is exactly what players of Destiny 2 said a while ago when layoffs happened.

Difference is that Bungie moved onto another game, that's why Destiny 2 died. Zos already got denied another game.

Destiny didn't die. They keep the game as is.

I don't expect much from ESO except some minor things, shop updates and battlepasses.

That's why we got 'managing expections' post so quickly about the roadmap.

It's dead as in no new content. It was a live service mmo, by definition that's dead.

BardokRedSnow · July 6

I dont really even understand the sentiment people have about the company is just greedy, microsoft just wants to fill their own pockets etc

Where are people even getting that from, its not like Microsoft or zenimax are doing well and they just wanna squeeze out more money from Zos.

Not saying its ESO or Zos' fault either but at least be honest and understand that Microsoft has been in a downward spiral for a very long time, since Halo 4, and Bethesda also has not been doing great, and now eso's numbers are struggling to boot, and both are under the sinking ship that is Microsoft management.

All this to say that their issues are multilayered. And its not about greed its about mismanagement at the highest level, 14 layers of redundant leadership roles within microsoft itself, much less the game studios they acquired. Literally btw not a hyperbole, their own words.

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/07/06/resetting-xbox/

A lot of y'all need to read that.

Stamicka · July 6

Seeing so many seniors cut means a lot of experience and talent is leaving the team. I don’t see how things don’t go downhill after this. It’s just a vicious cycle. Cut staff -> quality drops or gets delayed -> people quit -> revenue drops -> more cuts.

So the game can continue to go on, but we’ve seen this sort of thing go down before.

Finnigan being gone is especially alarming. Do you honestly expect dungeons and encounters to retain their same quality and feel?

Arunei · July 6

DrMedBorn wrote: »

[snip]

What a in-depth productive post. Wow.

Rungar wrote: »

multiple rounds of layoffs destroy game morale as people see games like this as a longterm investment of time. The layoffs demonstrate that the investment they are making will not be rewarded (with content). Thus morale drops, numbers drop and further cycles of layoffs though i imagine there will only be one more round. Its perfectly reasonable to extrapolate that this might very well be the end of eso.

Unlike other games they cant just sell off the elder scrolls to some 3rd party for maintenance duty. They will have to shut it down when it becomes unprofitable if it isnt already to salvage the franchaise.

It may be, it may not be the end. But going around declaring "this is it" like we've already been told the servers are shutting down next month accomplishes nothing. My point isn't saying that all's good no one has anything to worry about. My point is we don't have any idea for the time being how much these layoffs will actually affect the game and that it's better to wait until we have actual information to work with.

Could things be dire? They could very well be.

Could things ultimately work out okay for ESO? It's very possible.

Not knowing what's coming is of course going to bother people. Past experiences and such will, yes, also color how we feel about current happenings. But with so little information when it comes to how the layoffs will impact ESO, instead of stating the game is doomed 1000% for sure no question asked, we should simply wait and see what we get told.
[edited to remove quote]

Arunei · July 6

Stamicka wrote: »

Seeing so many seniors cut means a lot of experience and talent is leaving the team. I don’t see how things don’t go downhill after this. It’s just a vicious cycle. Cut staff -> quality drops or gets delayed -> people quit -> revenue drops -> more cuts.

So the game can continue to go on, but we’ve seen this sort of thing go down before.

Finnigan being gone is especially alarming. Do you honestly expect dungeons and encounters to retain their same quality and feel?

Finn being let go is definitely a blow, but at the same time saying Dungeons and stuff won't be as good with him gone implies the rest of the staff who work on them are somehow inept or incapable, which is (even though I doubt it was meant to be) somewhat insulting to them. Any one of them might take Finn's position and be able to deliver stuff at the same level he did. He would only be as good as what his team could help him achieve, after all.

Soarora · July 6

After it sunk in some more, I think we will just have to wait and see. Hopefully new hires fill in some of the gaps. I hear that content will continue on, just we’ll have to wait on the new roadmap to see specifics.

Gagoimaliu · July 6

All the pessimism and acting like the game is completely dead and will never receive new content is just understandable anger and disappointment, a lot of the people laid off were longstanding members of the community and the dev team, and the big worry now is the class reworks and new content.

But like, it's too early to really concretely say anything, the game could be going into SWTOR mode where they release one little questline twice a year, they might just be restructuring to get us new content faster, it's been a day, we're as in the dark as we can be.

BardokRedSnow · July 6

I dont even think this conversation can be had in earnest because some are gonna get emotional, call it bashing and get you in trouble.

So I will just say this much, before anyone claims its over we should probably wait and see what the road map is and what statement we get from zos themselves. I wont comment on the jobs of individuals, but its no secret eso has been in a bad spot for a while now and really nobody here in these comment sections knows the truth of how the business is being run behind closed doors, who is really responsible primarily for what etc.

Dungeons havent been keeping people playing the game and I struggle always trying to find people to play them unless its the undaunted task, and even then the dlc ones are very hard to match up for even still, especially for hard mode.

Thats just one aspect of the game itself thats been struggling and I dont know who is actually responsible for that etc and nobody knows if who is made to take charge after will be better or worse. Nobody here is qualified to comment on any of it, and no one's in a position to either with how many daily complaint threads there are on the forums.

alternatelder · July 6

LennaTheRussian wrote: »

Eldovar wrote: »

This is exactly what players of Destiny 2 said a while ago when layoffs happened.

Difference is that Bungie moved onto another game, that's why Destiny 2 died. Zos already got denied another game.

Bungie was forced to move onto another game.

Not even the developers knew until the day of the announcement that the game was being shutdown. Everyone should worry about ESO's future. They nearly saved it when they pulled the plug on Blackbird, the game Matt Firor was making while winding down ESO development and pulling devs and funding to that. Now it seems the higher ups don't even care. It would not surprise me to see this game pushed into permanent maintenance mode. Execs seem to think AI can make video games now.

Destiny 2, whether you liked it or not, was the looter shooter that defined the genre, it was a very successful live service game. The last two years were rough, but it was absolutely a shock to see it get closed up. Everyone should have their expectations in check from here on out. I won't be investing anymore money into ESO. I do not see a future with it after today unless there's a solid announcement of continued support.

Rungar · July 6

Arunei wrote: »

Stamicka wrote: »

Seeing so many seniors cut means a lot of experience and talent is leaving the team. I don’t see how things don’t go downhill after this. It’s just a vicious cycle. Cut staff -> quality drops or gets delayed -> people quit -> revenue drops -> more cuts.

So the game can continue to go on, but we’ve seen this sort of thing go down before.

Finnigan being gone is especially alarming. Do you honestly expect dungeons and encounters to retain their same quality and feel?

Finn being let go is definitely a blow, but at the same time saying Dungeons and stuff won't be as good with him gone implies the rest of the staff who work on them are somehow inept or incapable, which is (even though I doubt it was meant to be) somewhat insulting to them. Any one of them might take Finn's position and be able to deliver stuff at the same level he did. He would only be as good as what his team could help him achieve, after all.

to be honest the game needed a complete dungeon redesign/overhaul like 7 years ago.

Estin · July 6

It's not dead, but it's on its deathbed, and it's going to be hard to recover from this. The list of affected devs doubled since I last looked at it, and a lot of people that pioneered recent and upcoming content are gone. Things like Subclassing, Hybridization, Solo dungeons, Trials, all those people are gone. A bunch of animators and sound design got axed too, and that practically ends the class refreshes and any possibility of a new class. I'm seeing Tool and Software engineers getting axed too. That's definitely going to affect crossplay which was set to be on track for next year. I'm trying not to be negative about it, but it's hard to see how those who are left will be able to carry on with the plans that were in place. That many people gone will essentially double the timeline of what we saw.

Really, the best outcome from this is the either hiring new positions if it's even possible and at the cost of integrating them, or receiving help from the studios that are left under Xbox. Xbox wants to focus on their big IPs by investing into it, but I don't see how that would even be possible if you get rid of the majority of people who work on the game, especially the senior positions. You need employees if you want something to be made. I won't be surprised if the remaining employees end up resigning. Another round of layoffs is already looming and the workload has been doubled. I wouldn't blame anyone who wants to get out before the axe comes down. I would do the same.

I'm wishing for the best for those still left at ZOS. I can't imagine how terrible it must feel

BardokRedSnow · July 6

Estin wrote: »

It's not dead, but it's on its deathbed, and it's going to be hard to recover from this. The list of affected devs doubled since I last looked at it, and a lot of people that pioneered recent and upcoming content are gone. Things like Subclassing, Hybridization, Solo dungeons, Trials, all those people are gone. A bunch of animators and sound design got axed too, and that practically ends the class refreshes and any possibility of a new class. I'm seeing Tool and Software engineers getting axed too. That's definitely going to affect crossplay which was set to be on track for next year. I'm trying not to be negative about it, but it's hard to see how those who are left will be able to carry on with the plans that were in place. That many people gone will essentially double the timeline of what we saw.

Really, the best outcome from this is the either hiring new positions if it's even possible and at the cost of integrating them, or receiving help from the studios that are left under Xbox. Xbox wants to focus on their big IPs by investing into it, but I don't see how that would even be possible if you get rid of the majority of people who work on the game, especially the senior positions. You need employees if you want something to be made. I won't be surprised if the remaining employees end up resigning. Another round of layoffs is already looming and the workload has been doubled. I wouldn't blame anyone who wants to get out before the axe comes down. I would do the same.

I'm wishing for the best for those still left at ZOS. I can't imagine how terrible it must feel

None of this is true, the positions werent axed, staff was let go and the teams downsized.

Rkindaleft · July 6

The truth of the matter is that it's pretty hard to remain positive about the game at the moment.

It's unfortunately pretty reminiscent of what Amazon did to New World. New World was suffering for a long time, the game finally became successful and the player count was skyrocketing and then they just nuked the whole thing.

After a poor 2024 and 2025 (PTS banning debacle, we had that whole lag thread for a year, updates were scaled back and became smaller, servers got DDOSed a hundred times, trickling population counts, the disaster of the Writhing Wall event, cancellation of in person events), 2026 finally looked like some things had changed for the better, maybe the content wasn't perfect, but player counts were rising again, interest was coming back, PTS communication was at an all time high and then it feels like with this announcement Microsoft has completely killed the good momentum the game was having.

I agree we don't know what's going to happen, but I also think everyone knows deep down that the content cadence will change in some way, and the reality is people aren't going to keep financially supporting the game if there's nothing there.

Estin · July 6

BardokRedSnow wrote: »

Estin wrote: »

It's not dead, but it's on its deathbed, and it's going to be hard to recover from this. The list of affected devs doubled since I last looked at it, and a lot of people that pioneered recent and upcoming content are gone. Things like Subclassing, Hybridization, Solo dungeons, Trials, all those people are gone. A bunch of animators and sound design got axed too, and that practically ends the class refreshes and any possibility of a new class. I'm seeing Tool and Software engineers getting axed too. That's definitely going to affect crossplay which was set to be on track for next year. I'm trying not to be negative about it, but it's hard to see how those who are left will be able to carry on with the plans that were in place. That many people gone will essentially double the timeline of what we saw.

Really, the best outcome from this is the either hiring new positions if it's even possible and at the cost of integrating them, or receiving help from the studios that are left under Xbox. Xbox wants to focus on their big IPs by investing into it, but I don't see how that would even be possible if you get rid of the majority of people who work on the game, especially the senior positions. You need employees if you want something to be made. I won't be surprised if the remaining employees end up resigning. Another round of layoffs is already looming and the workload has been doubled. I wouldn't blame anyone who wants to get out before the axe comes down. I would do the same.

I'm wishing for the best for those still left at ZOS. I can't imagine how terrible it must feel

None of this is true, the positions werent axed, staff was let go and the teams downsized.

That's just a more professional way to say it. The fact still remains that there's less people who now have their workload increased, and that is going to cause problems with what was planned. Many of the people who were let go were directly responsible for the content we've seen for the past few years as well as content on the roadmap. It's not going to be easy for those who are left.

s3dulo · July 6

If this isn't the beginning of the end I would imagine someone in the know would be clamoring with reassurances. They know how these layoffs appear to spell doom for the game and cause people to feel discouraged. If no one is making promises about the future then I can only assume they must not have any interest in retaining players. It feels like they just pulled the plug on the player base and it will dwindle from here on out. I'm naturally more of an optimistic person but I don't see much to feel good about here.

Sephyr · July 6

Arunei wrote: »

It's completely understandable to be worried about the future of the game, but at the same time troubling news can make emotions run high in the moment. Instead of getting worried about things that might not ever come to pass, I'd suggest everyone wait until we get the information Kevin mentioned them working on getting and the updated roadmap that Jessica has said will be coming.

Honestly, it's wild that this even needs saying. Season One is about to launch, so I'm going to focus on that until they say something.

opalsighs · July 6

I think folks acting like ESO is going to shut down tomorrow are being a bit over the top, but I also don't think the sentiment is an inaccurate one. Of course, none of us know for sure. We can't predict the future.

That said, cutting so many of the staff - a year after the last major round of layoffs, and with more to come - does not sound like the parent company is investing in the future of the game. If the company isn't investing in it, why should players?

That's where I'm at, anyway. ESO may continue to be around for a while, but I'm likely done with it after this news. I know people will say "don't cut your support for them now!" but the fact is, I don't want to support MS, and there isn't a good way to support ZOS specifically without supporting MS. So it goes.

I can't keep investing time and money if the company isn't doing the same. Hurts, since I was looking forward to the game's future, but the company has made its priorities pretty clear - and those don't seem to include ZOS.

Vonnegut2506 · July 6

opalsighs wrote: »

I think folks acting like ESO is going to shut down tomorrow are being a bit over the top, but I also don't think the sentiment is an inaccurate one. Of course, none of us know for sure. We can't predict the future.

That said, cutting so many of the staff - a year after the last major round of layoffs, and with more to come - does not sound like the parent company is investing in the future of the game. If the company isn't investing in it, why should players?

That's where I'm at, anyway. ESO may continue to be around for a while, but I'm likely done with it after this news. I know people will say "don't cut your support for them now!" but the fact is, I don't want to support MS, and there isn't a good way to support ZOS specifically without supporting MS. So it goes.

I can't keep investing time and money if the company isn't doing the same. Hurts, since I was looking forward to the game's future, but the company has made its priorities pretty clear - and those don't seem to include ZOS.

That's the way I feel too; luckily, I have LotRO and EQ Legends to fill my MMO needs for the immediate future. Neither of them are run by the Windows Overlords.

BardokRedSnow · July 6

Estin wrote: »

BardokRedSnow wrote: »

Estin wrote: »

It's not dead, but it's on its deathbed, and it's going to be hard to recover from this. The list of affected devs doubled since I last looked at it, and a lot of people that pioneered recent and upcoming content are gone. Things like Subclassing, Hybridization, Solo dungeons, Trials, all those people are gone. A bunch of animators and sound design got axed too, and that practically ends the class refreshes and any possibility of a new class. I'm seeing Tool and Software engineers getting axed too. That's definitely going to affect crossplay which was set to be on track for next year. I'm trying not to be negative about it, but it's hard to see how those who are left will be able to carry on with the plans that were in place. That many people gone will essentially double the timeline of what we saw.

Really, the best outcome from this is the either hiring new positions if it's even possible and at the cost of integrating them, or receiving help from the studios that are left under Xbox. Xbox wants to focus on their big IPs by investing into it, but I don't see how that would even be possible if you get rid of the majority of people who work on the game, especially the senior positions. You need employees if you want something to be made. I won't be surprised if the remaining employees end up resigning. Another round of layoffs is already looming and the workload has been doubled. I wouldn't blame anyone who wants to get out before the axe comes down. I would do the same.

I'm wishing for the best for those still left at ZOS. I can't imagine how terrible it must feel

None of this is true, the positions werent axed, staff was let go and the teams downsized.

That's just a more professional way to say it. The fact still remains that there's less people who now have their workload increased, and that is going to cause problems with what was planned. Many of the people who were let go were directly responsible for the content we've seen for the past few years as well as content on the roadmap. It's not going to be easy for those who are left.

They are people who are at the forefront of the teams who are responsible and are being replaced with who remains. Again not commenting on whether thats deserved or not. What I am saying is their positions aren't going away.

Microsoft I do not exactly trust, but the idea is they feel the positions were no longer meaningful. Only time will tell if thats actually the case for the growth of eso and again its not something I will speculate on here.

However something I bet that zos will agree on is its too early to be making statements like they can or can't handle things from here on. Its called a time of uncertainty for a reason.

Sluggy · July 7

BardokRedSnow wrote: »

Microsoft I do not exactly trust, but the idea is they feel the positions were no longer meaningful

Just for the sake of being pedantic: it probably wasn't Microsoft's direct hand in choosing who went and who stayed. Most places I've dealt with in this sort of situation usually hand down a budget and maybe some rough numbers for head-count and it's up to the direct management to decide who they can afford to keep. I've been there. I've been the guy cut because budgets were slashed and middle management couldn't justify my existence on paper even if they loved my work in practice.

I saw a shocking number of senior-titled people but in light of what I just said, that might be the result of being cost effective. If they can get rid of one person that directs but it allows them to keep three people that produce, it might just be worth it to them. At least on paper anyway.

Like you said. What it actually means and what the actual goals are is anyone's guess. But I hold fast to my previous statements. ZoS on the whole are likely going to be hunkering down for a long winter and hoping to survive to the next spring by whatever means they can.

JimT722 · July 7

I took a long break. the reworks brought me back. I'm not super invested. this seems like a good time to get off the bus for me. i think others are going to do the same.

irswat · July 7

They have done some pretty sick stuff in ESO recently. It sucks that they canned Finn. Microsoft is whack

Luneca · July 7

To be fair, I thought ESO was dead long before the layoffs.

Anyone that paid attention to the industry knows that this result was obvious from the moment they were acquired.

Anyone that has paid attention to the game knows that when they shifted focus something was happening behind the scenes.

Anyone that has specifically watched dev activity during PTS/etc. knows that there has been far less for a while, next to no real bug fixes implemented, etc. -- all indicative that there's a shrinking team.

Before the excuse was that ZOS was working on another MMO, but then that got cancelled and all of those guys' titled stopped mentioning ZOS around Novemmber 2025 on Linkedin.

So, this was not a surprise. Again, who is the graphics programmer right now?

A question that should be simple to answer is not something anyone here can find out. Yet, we could find out who that was up until 2025 November.

Arunei · July 7

s3dulo wrote: »

If this isn't the beginning of the end I would imagine someone in the know would be clamoring with reassurances. They know how these layoffs appear to spell doom for the game and cause people to feel discouraged. If no one is making promises about the future then I can only assume they must not have any interest in retaining players. It feels like they just pulled the plug on the player base and it will dwindle from here on out. I'm naturally more of an optimistic person but I don't see much to feel good about here.

They can't just come out and give us any sort of official statement right away though. They need time to actually look at everything, look at the staff they've got now, and work out exactly what the next steps are and what things will look like for the immediate future. Trying to quell panic and duress with a hasty "everything is hunky dory" can do more harm than good. Which is, again, the point of stressing waiting to give them a chance to actually evaluate everything.

opalsighs wrote: »

I think folks acting like ESO is going to shut down tomorrow are being a bit over the top, but I also don't think the sentiment is an inaccurate one. Of course, none of us know for sure. We can't predict the future.

That said, cutting so many of the staff - a year after the last major round of layoffs, and with more to come - does not sound like the parent company is investing in the future of the game. If the company isn't investing in it, why should players?

That's where I'm at, anyway. ESO may continue to be around for a while, but I'm likely done with it after this news. I know people will say "don't cut your support for them now!" but the fact is, I don't want to support MS, and there isn't a good way to support ZOS specifically without supporting MS. So it goes.

I can't keep investing time and money if the company isn't doing the same. Hurts, since I was looking forward to the game's future, but the company has made its priorities pretty clear - and those don't seem to include ZOS.

Perhaps a better way to look at it is that if you're subbing and buying Crates and such, you aren't supporting Microsoft. You're supporting ESO. I know that one can say "If we're supporting ESO we're supporting Microsoft too" and that's true to an extent, but if we want ESO to be as successful as possible, we can't support it without supporting Microsoft to some degree. Not wanting to support Microsoft unfortunately also means ESO not getting support either.

I do get, though, and it's a perfectly valid sentiment, people feeling that things over the course of any given amount of time adding up has made them decide that there's a line they're no longer willing to cross, or even if it's just recent stuff like the layoffs. Ultimately it's up to everyone to decide for themselves what they do and don't feel comfortable with doing or paying for, or what they just don't want to anymore regardless. No answer is the right or wrong one.