Genuinely heartbroken to hear the news. My heart goes out to everyone who has just had the rug pulled from under them at Zos and all tge other studios affected. Thank you to each and every one of you for all your hard work over the years. Thank you for giving me a game that has been part of my life since beta. Im genuinely worried about the evolving gaming landscape and what the future hold, the news never seems to be good. I wish only the best for everyone affected, goodbye guys x

Thalmar wrote: »

I really feel for many who lost their job, especially for Gina Bruno, but from my perspective it was expected...

The last year has been so chaotic, hectic and confusing. ESO team needed to decide who is their audience. They needed a plan, instead trying to make every type of player happy, go for their own core audience. Devs felt so over the place, kind of lost...

These layoffs have nothing to do with how the team performed. Microsoft is looking to save a buck, hence why they're laying off a lot of probably well paid senior staff.
Also the people who got fired weren't the ones making decisions about esos business model or content cadence in the first place.

Hi,

I read the news yesterday.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped build and support this amazing game over the years.

I’ve been part of the ESO community for many years now, and it has become much more than just a game to me. It’s a world I’ve shared with friends, created memories in, and enjoyed countless adventures.

I sincerely hope the journey will continue for many years to come.

Thank you all, and I wish the very best to everyone affected.p

Mizael wrote: »

I can't believe Carrie and Kira got fired aswell, xbox management doesn't know *** about this game

Ah hell, has Kira been confirmed to have got the axe too?

How can people get laid off immediately after finishing massive projects to improve the game for the players? I mean, how

It's clearly absolutely nothing to do with talent or performance.

Sorry @Firstmep , took the wrong name for the quote, that should have been @Thalmar - apologies, can't edit ....

I have never been worried for the state of the game until now. This is really bad news... half the studio ? what ? No... I had been enjoying the game a lot lately. This sucks.

I would like to hear a statement from the Game Director or Studio Director at this point.

I can’t imagine that the layoffs came from the XBox CEO herself throwing darts at a board. Someone somewhere had to use some amount of logic (as misguided as it may be) to decide who got cut and who didn’t. It’s not like it was a blanket “everyone with tenure of X years” or so was done.

Looking at the cuts does make me think that they are suggesting the direction the game will continue in (or limp along, as the case may be). For example, cutting Gina as Creator Engagement manager makes me think the Creator Program/Stream Team will be sunset. Cutting Finn and most of the Encounters team suggests they’re done with Dungeons and Trials. Cutting most of the writers suggests that we’re not likely to see large stories anymore, but we do still have a handful (and the loremaster) for tooltips or small sidequests. Most of the Combat team staying might suggest that the remaining Class Refreshes may be the big new things going forward.

I’d want to know what the plan is for ESO going forward with so many losses. It can’t continue as it did after the second round of devastating cuts in as many years, and I’m sure everyone who survived only feels like it’s a matter of time.

I’m also nervous that Microsoft in general is essentially putting all of its eggs in one basket. I was excited about TES6, but there never was any way it could live up to the hype. And now, that game essentially looks like the keystone for Zeni/Bethesda and its subsidiaries as a whole. I only hope they go in the direction of Baldur’s Gate 3 instead of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but I already know that one of the main differences between those two games was that one had a lot of corporate meddling and the other didn’t…

I'm so saddened and angry by this action by Micro$oft.

My heart and best wishes go out to all affected; both those that have been let go, and those that remain behind to move forward with a much smaller team.

This will hang heavy over the ESO Tavern event this weekend (of which I'm going to), I'm sure.

Sending my gratitude and best wishes to the developers
As a player who has logged in daily and subscribed since 2014, ESO has become a major part of my daily routine. I'm not a hardcore player, but I love that the game lets me just log in, relax, and try a bit of everything.
Hearing the recent news about the staff cuts has been heartbreaking. I just wanted to join the rest of the community in sending my deepest thanks to the developers who are leaving us.
Thank you for your dedication to making Tamriel a second home for so many of us.
I wish you nothing but success and happiness in the future.

A "loss of 64 cents for every dollar" spent is certainly a way to say you made a 36% return on investment.

This is gutting. So sorry to everyone affected. Some of these names are staples in our ESO lives and the definition of institutional knowledge - not to catastrophize, but I can't help but feel like I'm watching both my main hobby (gaming) and my main game (ESO) be dismantled piece by piece by people trying to push increasingly unwanted AI and chase increasingly unrealistic profit margins.

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Looking at the cuts does make me think that they are suggesting the direction the game will continue in (or limp along, as the case may be). For example, cutting Gina as Creator Engagement manager makes me think the Creator Program/Stream Team will be sunset. Cutting Finn and most of the Encounters team suggests they’re done with Dungeons and Trials. Cutting most of the writers suggests that we’re not likely to see large stories anymore, but we do still have a handful (and the loremaster) for tooltips or small sidequests. Most of the Combat team staying might suggest that the remaining Class Refreshes may be the big new things going forward.

I thought the same thing when I saw who was cut. Encounters aren't a priority, stories aren't a priority. Makes me wonder what is a priority. Perhaps the refreshes, as you've suggested, but after that? I guess we'll see from the updated roadmap.

I’m also nervous that Microsoft in general is essentially putting all of its eggs in one basket. I was excited about TES6, but there never was any way it could live up to the hype. And now, that game essentially looks like the keystone for Zeni/Bethesda and its subsidiaries as a whole. I only hope they go in the direction of Baldur’s Gate 3 instead of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but I already know that one of the main differences between those two games was that one had a lot of corporate meddling and the other didn’t…

They're not putting all their eggs in one basket. They're focusing on five franchises, not just TES. My reading of it is that they don't want such a long gap between games. There won't be 20 years between TES6 and TES7. They're increasing investment there so that there will only be a few years gap, like there was at the beginning of the TES franchise. Things really went off the rails after Skyrim so Bethesda could release Starfield and Fallout 4. Even so, it takes them too long to release games, and those gaps will be shortened. We'll have to see whether the games lose anything because of it. I'm not convinced they will, but we'll see.

Faerugue wrote: »

Sorry @Firstmep , took the wrong name for the quote, that should have been @Thalmar - apologies, can't edit ....

Was just about to reply then saw the next message xd.

ectoplasmicninja wrote: »

A "loss of 64 cents for every dollar" spent is certainly a way to say you made a 36% return on investment.

That's not what that means lol. A 36% return would be making 1.36 for every dollar they spent.

1 dollar - 1 dollar spent + 1.36 made = 36% return.

Xbox was losing money. For every dollar they spent, they only made back 36 cents. That means they were losing 64 cents, not gaining 36 cents.

1 dollar - 1 dollar spent + 36 cents made = 64% loss.

CameraBeardThePirate wrote: »

ectoplasmicninja wrote: »

A "loss of 64 cents for every dollar" spent is certainly a way to say you made a 36% return on investment.

That's not what that means lol. A 36% return would be making 1.36 for every dollar they spent.

1 dollar - 1 dollar spent + 1.36 made = 36% return.

Xbox was losing money. For every dollar they spent, they only made back 36 cents. That means they were losing 64 cents, not gaining 36 cents.

1 dollar - 1 dollar spent + 36 cents made = 64% loss.

Part of that was spending 75 billion on Activision. Another was not giving enough time for the new games to come out. Like with Zeni, they didn't have Project Blackbird release. ES6 not out. Etc.