Huge Layoffs at Zenimax, a lot of ESO devs impacted

H3rBie · July 7

M$ p....s me ...

buying gamestudios not so long ago and now this. had a bad feeling when I heard that MS is buying Zenimax and unfortunately it was not wrong.

However, like I said already in another thread, I'm really sorry for all who are affected from this, imho absolutely stupid, move.
Thanks for all you have done for the game and the community around it.

@baratron MS bought Zenimax for around $7.5bn back in 2020/21

Raziel_Lewach · July 7

I played the game for two years like 4 years ago. I quit because it was too braindead easy, and other reasons.

Last month I returned. The game passed from a "decline" sensation, to a "it's doing better than always" sensation. I passed from enjoying mocking at TESO, to seeing how good it did. Difficulty modes made me return. I saw a bright future in the game. I was really obsessed.

Well...

I still want to play and support it, but I'm not sure how good is for Microsoft to keep supporting their decisions. I'll probably keep playing, but instead of playing this in an obsessive way, I think I'll only play when my friend is up, for coop... and I'll use most of my time playing other stuff. Other games that, for example, do care about PVP (For Honor). And use the rest of my free time into single player experiences. I had Stellar Blade and Resident Evil 1 cut in half when I entered TESO, maybe it's a good chance to take them back...

I just feel super unmotivated and I had no strength to login today, at least on my own.

Even if the game enters into maintenance mode (everything screams for it) it's still 10 years of good content to COOP through... but that's it. A game to play only when I want to coop. I can't see it as a main game to focus my attention on now...

Narvuntien · July 7

***.
What a terrible year for video games.

I know people have decried the end of the game every couple of years or so but this time they might have managed to kill it.

My man the writing is what makes this game so good to play, I regularly replay old story content. I am replaying old story content right now.

I don't know, to be honest when they took away chapters I didn't really have a way to support the game anymore anyway.

StackonClown · July 7

I cringed with Microscopic-soft bought zeni.. it always ends badly with these hustlers

AvalonRanger · July 7

Maybe, this is culture difference between "Japan" and "North America".

In Japan, famous legendary anime series or famous long history game title
(example, FF, DQ, Bio hazard, Monster Hunter) still keep surviving more than 30 years.
Even it has major flaw. Maybe Japan media company respect importance of history,
or it's a geek heaven?

But in North America region, publishers easily abandon famous series just like that.

In Hollywood, creators still keep making "Alien" and "Predator" series though...Very strange.

"Wayland-湯谷(Yutani) building better world. We're last survivor of USCSS Nostromo crew."

aetherix8 · July 7

This is such horrible news, I didn't think there could be any more layoffs after the previous ones, but here we are. My thoughts are with all ZOS employees, those who lost their jobs and those who lost their colleagues. And to those who are being let go: thank you so much for all your work, passion, and dedication. This game is wonderful because of you and won't be the same anymore without you. I wish you all the best, may you succeed in finding a new home where you can feel fulfilled.

[SNIP] AI, it is destroying everything.

Styxius · July 7

I will say the lay offs are heartbreaking, but I do also wanna share for everyone to remember to support those who remain. it's a tough time for them and us. They need us more than ever right now to help boost the moral they need to show they still got it! I returned after leaving in U35 and can attest the current dev team was cooking in the time I was gone. I wish them well on their future and those who remain I believe they got it still! New times await and instead of cancelling your ESO+ directly affecting how microsoft sees this game and harming it more, we should direct the focus towards contacting microsoft on it instead. The devs need our support, you can achieve both goals without harming the game we love further. A debative approach I understand but just figured I'd throw it out that way. Best of faith and love to the team @ZOS_Kevin and others y'all are great. See ya on the next update!

AzuraFan · July 7

hiyde wrote: »

Struggling to survive?

This Multi-Trillion Dollar megacorp has posted record net profits 3 years in a row, nearly 300 billion in just the past 3 years.

It's the XBOX division that's having a problem, not Microsoft itself. MS has its fingers in a lot of pies. Most of those pies are generating good revenue. The XBOX division is bleeding badly, losing money hand over fist. Read Asha Sharma's email from yesterday. Talking about Microsoft's total revenue is irrelevant.

And while MS has the capital to invest more in the XBOX division, there comes a time when a business will stop throwing good money after bad. That time has come. They're trying to turn XBOX around, and this is one step toward that.

Having said that, I wish nobody had been laid off at ZOS. I'm not trying to justify any of the ESO layoffs, just explaining that MS's total profits don't matter here.

Firstmep · July 7

AzuraFan wrote: »

hiyde wrote: »

Struggling to survive?

This Multi-Trillion Dollar megacorp has posted record net profits 3 years in a row, nearly 300 billion in just the past 3 years.

It's the XBOX division that's having a problem, not Microsoft itself. MS has its fingers in a lot of pies. Most of those pies are generating good revenue. The XBOX division is bleeding badly, losing money hand over fist. Read Asha Sharma's email from yesterday. Talking about Microsoft's total revenue is irrelevant.

And while MS has the capital to invest more in the XBOX division, there comes a time when a business will stop throwing good money after bad. That time has come. They're trying to turn XBOX around, and this is one step toward that.

Having said that, I wish nobody had been laid off at ZOS. I'm not trying to justify any of the ESO layoffs, just explaining that MS's total profits don't matter here.

Yes, but, it is not the people who decided to buy up all these studios would be a good idea that are getting canned for their terrible decision making.

Dovahmiim · July 7

Rich Lambert being let go could be a really positive step, shame that so many talented devs had to go with him though

allochthons · July 7

After sleeping on this, I'm still devastated. I was just starting to feel real, honest optimism with the new changes with the WW refresh, the DK refresh, the class passives, etc.

The para-social relationships we players can build with the the public faces of our games are very real, and can be very strong. I ache for everyone at Zen, those let go, and those who remain. The loss of institutional knowledge in the last year is incredible.

Soarora wrote: »

Wanted to say thank you to @ErfXploded for continuously updating this list. It’s been incredibly useful and I keep coming back to see the updates. This is like a neverending nightmare.

I second this. I'm refreshing the first post too.

I haven't decided if I'm going to keep ESO+ (my monthly renewal was last week, so I can reactivate it before it expires) but I'm going to keep playing. I subbed in a TTT prog run as a werewolf last night, and it was so much fun!

But going forward, my non-ESO game purchases are going to be on physical media as much as possible, and this was my only MMO (although NMS has multi-player, and Subnautica 2 will as well, those aren't Massive, just friends playing with friends.)

I'm an older player, and retired. I hope Gaming as an industry recovers soon, but I expect we're in for a decade or more of recession in the industry, if it recovers at all, given we have no idea what AI is going to do to the world.

Muizer · July 7

Just logged in to express my sympathies to those who were let go and gratitude for their work over the past years. This must be a very bitter pill to swallow. I wish you, and those who are allowed to stay for now, strength in what will no doubt be uncertain times.

Veinblood1965 · July 7

I feel for those who were laid off and for those that weren't. We go through that yearly where I work and it's tough on everyone in many ways. What makes me sad also is that I quit the game a while back due to being unhappy for many reasons with the game. This last year or so I've been watching the forums and ZoS really has started listening to players and also making changes that made the game look quite fun to play again. It was turning a corner and beginning to be not only a great game again but an even better game than ever before. Enough so that my trust had came back and I've been considering playing again.

Then more lay offs. No telling how this will affect things. Less people means if the same level of effort is going to be kept then less people will be doing the work of those that were let go which usually leads to stress and burnout. I'm sorry that after all their hard work to turn the game around they get rewarded with lay offs.

Have all of them in my prayers.

Raziel_Lewach · July 7

Well. After this many time, one of the things I realised is I don't have to find an "infinite game that does everything". I already have For Honor for PVP, and I have cute single players elsewhere. The reason I entered TESo is because I wanted a coop game with this style that I could not find elsewhere. But we were already playing other mmorpgs before, the one I quited, partially, because I was obsessed with PVP. Now that I don't search for that... and my ESO+ refreshes in 2 days, it's a perfect chance to cancel it and return to GW2. The only way to tell that we don't agree, that there are other mmorpg's out there, GET UP DON'T TAKE THESE DECISIONS. I hope in the future it gets better and we can return and take it as a coop experience again... I'll be tuned to see what happens u_u

shadoza · July 7

dcrush wrote: »

shadoza wrote: »

dcrush wrote: »

shadoza wrote: »

Struggling to survive?

This Multi-Trillion Dollar megacorp has posted record net profits 3 years in a row, nearly 300 billion in just the past 3 years.

Revenue is not profits.

Take a step back and read what they posted.
Almost 300 billion IS profits. The revenue is more than 700 billion.

Companies that are financially stable do not down-size.

I thought ESO was the fantasy world but it seems you’re living in a bigger one. Financially stable companies absolutely downsize if they think they can improve their profit margins.

Marto wrote: »

Nearly the entire writing team has been laid off... If not all, as we haven't yet heard from all of them.

This is absolutely inexcusable. How? How??

This is the team that has literally kept the Elder Scrolls setting and franchise alive for the past decade.

What is supposed to happen now? How are you going to release the planned Skyrim zone without anyone to write dialogue, books, songs, lore, or quests?

Hundreds of years of experience and knowledge, down the drain. This is shameful. Absolutely disgusting. At what point do studio leads have to stand up, put their foot down, and tell their bosses this cannot be allowed to happen?

This magnifies my feelings of dread that we’ll be getting AI generated stories.

A Financially stable business does not downsize. A business that is doing well will continue to expand to increase revenue. Microsoft is not doing well financially. The stock has lost over $100 per share and the company has seen a downward trend in the passing year.

A parent company will downsize, restructure, even close a subsidiary that is not profitable. Microsoft purchased ZeniMax Media who owned Bethesda over 5 years ago. ZeniMax needed money to support their projects and $7 Billion is a lot of money.
Asha Sharma made a statement that the Xbox titles were not doing well. She stated, at some point, that the producers of Mine Craft and Candy Crush were going to b e the priority. She also made a statement that she believed gamers want hardware improvements for Xbox and PC . . . isn't that a scary though.
I would say more, but that would land me in trouble. I'll leave it at, a financially stable business does NOT downsize or restructure.

AzuraFan · July 7

Firstmep wrote: »

Yes, but, it is not the people who decided to buy up all these studios would be a good idea that are getting canned for their terrible decision making.

Actually, they're gone. It was Phil Spencer, who was replaced with Asha Sharma. I think there might have been one other person involved, and she's gone too. Sharma is new, and brought in to hopefully turn the XBOX division around.

Faulgor · July 7

Rich too? Damn.

We are approaching the limit where it makes more sense to list the people who are still around.

laniakea_0 · July 7

why is Microslop even dragging this out? how can the game even go on if that much key personnel was let go?

AScarlato · July 7

Who wrote Zerith-Var? Are they still there? Would be a travesty if not as that was some of the best writing we got in a long time.

Ilsabet · July 7

AScarlato wrote: »

Who wrote Zerith-Var? Are they still there? Would be a travesty if not as that was some of the best writing we got in a long time.

That was Julianna Comstock, who was let go.

AScarlato · July 7

Ilsabet wrote: »

AScarlato wrote: »

Who wrote Zerith-Var? Are they still there? Would be a travesty if not as that was some of the best writing we got in a long time.

That was Julianna Comstock, who was let go.

Wow. The utter shock I just felt as I read this was larger than I expected.

Kickimanjaro · July 7

AScarlato wrote: »

Who wrote Zerith-Var? Are they still there? Would be a travesty if not as that was some of the best writing we got in a long time.

Unfortunately, that writer was impacted... You can tell her how much you appreciated her work, though! https://bsky.app/profile/okcryptid.bsky.social/post/3mpyixgss4k22

DragonRacer · July 7

Kickimanjaro wrote: »

AScarlato wrote: »

Who wrote Zerith-Var? Are they still there? Would be a travesty if not as that was some of the best writing we got in a long time.

Unfortunately, that writer was impacted... You can tell her how much you appreciated her work, though! https://bsky.app/profile/okcryptid.bsky.social/post/3mpyixgss4k22

She wrote Sharp-As-Night, too??

Both my favorite companions.

My stomach is sick again.

AScarlato · July 7

Kickimanjaro wrote: »

AScarlato wrote: »

Who wrote Zerith-Var? Are they still there? Would be a travesty if not as that was some of the best writing we got in a long time.

Unfortunately, that writer was impacted... You can tell her how much you appreciated her work, though! https://bsky.app/profile/okcryptid.bsky.social/post/3mpyixgss4k22

I sadly don't have an account there (try to limit social media) but if she happens to ever read this somehow, I wish her the best and really loved her work!

DragonRacer · July 7

Curses, she has replies turned off. I wanted to drop a note about her work on Zerith and Sharp.

Ilsabet · July 7

DragonRacer wrote: »

Kickimanjaro wrote: »

AScarlato wrote: »

Who wrote Zerith-Var? Are they still there? Would be a travesty if not as that was some of the best writing we got in a long time.

Unfortunately, that writer was impacted... You can tell her how much you appreciated her work, though! https://bsky.app/profile/okcryptid.bsky.social/post/3mpyixgss4k22

She wrote Sharp-As-Night, too??

Yep.

Her UESP page gives a pretty good overview of her known credits, including the Corelanya Manor quest in Solstice and co-writing the Scribing questline.

Actually for anyone who wants to fall down a rabbit hole, browsing UESP pages for the writers on this list might be an interesting way to put names to faces (so to speak).

AScarlato · July 7

Ilsabet wrote: »

DragonRacer wrote: »

Kickimanjaro wrote: »

AScarlato wrote: »

Who wrote Zerith-Var? Are they still there? Would be a travesty if not as that was some of the best writing we got in a long time.

Unfortunately, that writer was impacted... You can tell her how much you appreciated her work, though! https://bsky.app/profile/okcryptid.bsky.social/post/3mpyixgss4k22

She wrote Sharp-As-Night, too??

Yep.

Her UESP page gives a pretty good overview of her known credits, including the Corelanya Manor quest in Solstice and co-writing the Scribing questline.

So, most of the good recent writing. Great. I'm so mad I need to cut my comment off here.

DeathandDebauchery · July 7

Marto wrote: »

Nearly the entire writing team has been laid off... If not all, as we haven't yet heard from all of them.

This is absolutely inexcusable. How? How??

This is the team that has literally kept the Elder Scrolls setting and franchise alive for the past decade.

What is supposed to happen now? How are you going to release the planned Skyrim zone without anyone to write dialogue, books, songs, lore, or quests?

Hundreds of years of experience and knowledge, down the drain. This is shameful. Absolutely disgusting. At what point do studio leads have to stand up, put their foot down, and tell their bosses this cannot be allowed to happen?

Where is this image from?

Faulgor · July 7

laniakea_0 wrote: »

why is Microslop even dragging this out? how can the game even go on if that much key personnel was let go?

They are just squeezing out what's still in the pipeline, to get a few drops of blood out of this stone.

Marto · July 7

DeathandDebauchery wrote: »

Marto wrote: »

Nearly the entire writing team has been laid off... If not all, as we haven't yet heard from all of them.

This is absolutely inexcusable. How? How??

This is the team that has literally kept the Elder Scrolls setting and franchise alive for the past decade.

What is supposed to happen now? How are you going to release the planned Skyrim zone without anyone to write dialogue, books, songs, lore, or quests?

Hundreds of years of experience and knowledge, down the drain. This is shameful. Absolutely disgusting. At what point do studio leads have to stand up, put their foot down, and tell their bosses this cannot be allowed to happen?

Where is this image from?

These are the credits for Seasons of the Worm cult. They may not be fully accurate, as devs were shifted around this year. But it's the best thing we have at the moment. The ones I didn't mark with red or green are the ones who haven't said anything about the layoffs on social media or updated their LinkedIn.