Dear ESO community: our words bear consequences (layoffs 2026)

SkaiFaith · July 7

First: I AM NOT putting all the blame on the ESO community for the recent layoffs. We all know the push for AI is affecting the lives of everyone nowadays.

But I am astonished when I read comments like: "why lay off all the writing team!" - like, really? Take a look at how many pages have been written here in the last 5 years about HOW BAD writing in ESO is.
Same goes for other stuff like: "how is it possible art team members got laid off!" - again, look how many times people have said the game looks dated, and requested to make it look better.
And I don't know if any forum moderator got laid off, but have you never seen all the complaining about certain forum moderators "being tyrants"? (Not you, our beloved thane Kevin

)

Let me be clear: I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST ANY DEV personally, I don't know them, so I can only have empathy for the difficult situation they have to face.

But when a company like Microsoft does layoffs do you really think they are random?
It was made known to us that "high powers" were taking a look into Zos when Matt Firor was the head of the Studio - there was a thread in which they directly asked us: "give us your feedback on everything you think is wrong".
If they read that thread and everything else that's been said here in the subsequent months... Be honest, we know why these layoffs have been made. Even things like Dungeons and the Content creator side got criticized. So...

I AM NOT JUSTIFYING MICROSOFT, and I am sad too in hearing these news.

Massive layoffs always bring morale down. The look of this doesn't sound promising for the future of the game, and ESO is one of the MOST SUCCESSFUL MMOs - this not only is worrisome for ESO, or XBOX, but for the whole gaming industry.

I just want to remind you, ESO community, that when you get loud shouting for a change you want and don't see happening, threatening that you'll stop giving money, you shouldn't expect that the exact same people that, for example, "has written bad" for the past 5 years will magically "write good" after knowing your opinion... It's more likely that they'll be replaced if someone high in the hierarchy sees your complaints.

I don't want this thread to be negative so I'll close my message with a positive note: We can't change what's already happened, but we can learn and help shape the future. Even if it's hard, let's preserve hope, give courage to our remaining squad, and who knows, maybe the Studio will see new force coming in from other good people we'll welcome and appreciate.

Today we mourn the loss of our brothers, but lest we forget our responsibility, for them, for us, and for those who come after.

Palumtra · July 7

Microsoft is practically a Megacorp a this point.
Numbers in excel sheet red? Reduce other numbers until it becomes green again.
That's how it goes. What? Someone worked here for 10+ years? Send them a thank you card.

fizzybeef · July 7

SkaiFaith wrote: »

First: I AM NOT putting all the blame on the ESO community for the recent layoffs. We all know the push for AI is affecting the lives of everyone nowadays.

But I am astonished when I read comments like: "why lay off all the writing team!" - like, really? Take a look at how many pages have been written here in the last 5 years about HOW BAD writing in ESO is.
Same goes for other stuff like: "how is it possible art team members got laid off!" - again, look how many times people have said the game looks dated, and requested to make it look better.
And I don't know if any forum moderator got laid off, but have you never seen all the complaining about certain forum moderators "being tyrants"? (Not you, our beloved thane Kevin )

Let me be clear: I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST ANY DEV personally, I don't know them, so I can only have empathy for the difficult situation they have to face.

But when a company like Microsoft does layoffs do you really think they are random?
It was made known to us that "high powers" were taking a look into Zos when Matt Firor was the head of the Studio - there was a thread in which they directly asked us: "give us your feedback on everything you think is wrong".
If they read that thread and everything else that's been said here in the subsequent months... Be honest, we know why these layoffs have been made. Even things like Dungeons and the Content creator side got criticized. So...

I AM NOT JUSTIFYING MICROSOFT, and I am sad too in hearing these news.

Massive layoffs always bring morale down. The look of this doesn't sound promising for the future of the game, and ESO is one of the MOST SUCCESSFUL MMOs - this not only is worrisome for ESO, or XBOX, but for the whole gaming industry.

I just want to remind you, ESO community, that when you get loud shouting for a change you want and don't see happening, threatening that you'll stop giving money, you shouldn't expect that the exact same people that, for example, "has written bad" for the past 5 years will magically "write good" after knowing your opinion... It's more likely that they'll be replaced if someone high in the hierarchy sees your complaints.

I don't want this thread to be negative so I'll close my message with a positive note: We can't change what's already happened, but we can learn and help shape the future. Even if it's hard, let's preserve hope, give courage to our remaining squad, and who knows, maybe the Studio will see new force coming in from other good people we'll welcome and appreciate.

Today we mourn the loss of our brothers, but lest we forget our responsibility, for them, for us, and for those who come after.

If our words would bear consequences the game wouldnt be in the state it is right now and not so many people would of left already.

Vengeance wouldnt of happened, overland difficulty long ago, no subclassing , no hybridisation, crossplay long ago.

Its good that we give critism but its getting ignored and the reason these people got laid of is simple : Money.

It has nothign to do with us and the people who got laid off or will get laid off in the second layoff are being chosen by internal factors and mostly because of cost income value.
Dont search the fault at the playing and PAYING costumers. This is us btw

BretonMage · July 7

I think it's more that they laid off the people whose jobs they think (mistakenly of course) can be done by AI. Most of the layoffs seem to have been writers after all. This has happened in other gaming companies as well.

Having said that, a bit more support and positivity for the staff would be a good thing in general, and especially now.

Yökarhu · July 7

I doubt no-one wanted ppl to get fired, we wanted the game to do better and we as customers have all the right to point out where that better is needed.
You write as if Microsoft cares about anything else than pure numbers. As if they were reading the comments in this forum and be like. Hmm. the community complaints, so we get rid of those who are connected to those complaints, that'll rise the profit margins!
No. Demanding change bc the current isn't working is not the reason why this happened. Microsoft don't wanna invest games as hard as AI. Pure and simple.
If they were really concerned about community complaining about content and their creators, they would have asked "ok, team, what do you need to make this better for the customer?". Getting them fired is not gonna fix any issues. Only create more.
Now, if they would have _replaced_ the content makers for others, I'd be inclined to believe you, the complaints resulted those particular ppl to get fired. But just get rid of the whole job position? nah.

DestroyerPewnack · July 7

I don't think our complaints had anything to do with it, for a few reasons.

First is the timing. Microsoft already announced that they will be scaling down in all of their games, and even sold off a few of their studios. This tells me that the reasons behind these layoffs have nothing to do with player feedback, and everything to do with Microsoft trying to cut costs. Our opinions of who should stay and who should go don't factor into it.

Second, the people being laid off aren't being replaced with more competent people that the players want. They're just... being laid off. This means smaller, more spaced out content, and possibly AI slop. Again, not something that players want.

Third, I've looked at the list of employees affected by the layoffs, and couldn't find Brian Wheeler's name on any of them. How do you explain that?

I think it's far more likely that they just removed all the non-essential employees to cut costs, regardless of their performance and players' opinions of them.

Frayton · July 7

Guilt tripping and blaming legitimate feedback from paying customers is corporate level low.

Do you really think the people in charge read the forums then decided to make big money decisions? Some people on this forum think way too highly of themselves.

WhisperLFE · July 7

I really, really doubt any layoffs were directly related to comments made on a gaming forum. It sounds like they had a restructuring policy that was applied across multiple companies and that was driven primarily by perceived "inefficiencies" in the organization structures...which, in reality, probably relates heavily to MS's (over) investment in AI.

Ultimately, the approach is similar to what DOGE did/tried to do to the government (which isn't surprising when you look at the people involved): cut heavily first without fully realizing who and what you're actually cutting, make the remaining people "pick up the slack," and then after it fails, quietly attempt to rehire/rebuild, usually under new management.

Ardriel · July 7

Nobody at Microsoft cares what any individual player in this forum thinks or feels, or what problems they have in the game. All they care about is how much money players spend on the game.
Microsoft is also not interested in what any individual employee thinks or feels, or what problems they have. All they care about is whether it is profitable to pay that employee’s salary. In other words, whether the benefits justify the costs. When cuts have to be made, the people who are most easily dispensed with are the ones who get laid off.

Luneca · July 7

This is a take that even Bizzaro World would reject.

Aliniel · July 7

On one hand, I agree the game has been going in the bad direction for years, and the quality of the content was repetitive, often boring, grindy... [snip]. Basically, not much worth praising the ZOS as a whole. I have no idea what the root of the issues was, but there has been something rotten inside somewhere.

But these layoffs are corporate financial operations. I suspect ESO simply doesn't grow the profits. It's been either flat or maybe even decreasing. Given the fairly recent changes to the game and philosophy, I am surprised they wouldn't give the team more time with the new seasonal approach. Makes no sense to me to gut it just now.

I think it's a clear sign that Microsoft no longer has any expectations from the ESO. They will keep it afloat for as long as it's profitable and then phase it out. I have no doubt the team will keep up working on it, but even the current roadmap of 3 years to rework all classes is a joke. Now it's going to become even bigger one (and this time it won't be entirely ZOS's fault).

I am a bit hopeful - maybe ZOS will be encouraged for more brave and riskier choices now. Rather than keeping the game alive and slowly accompanying it to its eventual shutdown, they might try high risk/high gain moves to fundamentally change the game and attract crowds rather than just watch it die off. Only time will tell...
[edited for bashing]

frogthroat · July 7

I don't follow your logic. Are you one of the Microsoft shareholders who voted for these cuts? For example:

SkaiFaith wrote: »

Same goes for other stuff like: "how is it possible art team members got laid off!" - again, look how many times people have said the game looks dated, and requested to make it look better.

Players: "10 year old game graphics need an update."
ZOS: *updates some graphics*
Players: "Thanks, but many other graphics still need an update, for example character graphics."
MS: "Right, that's it, fire the art team!"

I mean, I thought the MS part would have been along the line of "we want to go all in with AI and place all available resources there. ESO and some other games are not producing enough money to feed our AI expenses, so we cut all cost than we can." But if you know the real reason is players want graphics overhaul (ie. more work for the art team) and therefore MS fires the art team, I would really be interested in the logic behind that.

BardokRedSnow · July 7

fizzybeef wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

First: I AM NOT putting all the blame on the ESO community for the recent layoffs. We all know the push for AI is affecting the lives of everyone nowadays.

But I am astonished when I read comments like: "why lay off all the writing team!" - like, really? Take a look at how many pages have been written here in the last 5 years about HOW BAD writing in ESO is.
Same goes for other stuff like: "how is it possible art team members got laid off!" - again, look how many times people have said the game looks dated, and requested to make it look better.
And I don't know if any forum moderator got laid off, but have you never seen all the complaining about certain forum moderators "being tyrants"? (Not you, our beloved thane Kevin )

Let me be clear: I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST ANY DEV personally, I don't know them, so I can only have empathy for the difficult situation they have to face.

But when a company like Microsoft does layoffs do you really think they are random?
It was made known to us that "high powers" were taking a look into Zos when Matt Firor was the head of the Studio - there was a thread in which they directly asked us: "give us your feedback on everything you think is wrong".
If they read that thread and everything else that's been said here in the subsequent months... Be honest, we know why these layoffs have been made. Even things like Dungeons and the Content creator side got criticized. So...

I AM NOT JUSTIFYING MICROSOFT, and I am sad too in hearing these news.

Massive layoffs always bring morale down. The look of this doesn't sound promising for the future of the game, and ESO is one of the MOST SUCCESSFUL MMOs - this not only is worrisome for ESO, or XBOX, but for the whole gaming industry.

I just want to remind you, ESO community, that when you get loud shouting for a change you want and don't see happening, threatening that you'll stop giving money, you shouldn't expect that the exact same people that, for example, "has written bad" for the past 5 years will magically "write good" after knowing your opinion... It's more likely that they'll be replaced if someone high in the hierarchy sees your complaints.

I don't want this thread to be negative so I'll close my message with a positive note: We can't change what's already happened, but we can learn and help shape the future. Even if it's hard, let's preserve hope, give courage to our remaining squad, and who knows, maybe the Studio will see new force coming in from other good people we'll welcome and appreciate.

Today we mourn the loss of our brothers, but lest we forget our responsibility, for them, for us, and for those who come after.

If our words would bear consequences the game wouldnt be in the state it is right now and not so many people would of left already.

Vengeance wouldnt of happened, overland difficulty long ago, no subclassing , no hybridisation, crossplay long ago.

Its good that we give critism but its getting ignored and the reason these people got laid of is simple : Money.

It has nothign to do with us and the people who got laid off or will get laid off in the second layoff are being chosen by internal factors and mostly because of cost income value.
Dont search the fault at the playing and PAYING costumers. This is us btw

Nothing else really needs to be said in this thread, nail on the head

There’s been a lot of emotion posting and cope as of late but the bottom line is zenimax is a business not a charity. Without understanding that an honest discussion of the layoffs can’t even begin to start

CAB_Life · July 7

fizzybeef wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

First: I AM NOT putting all the blame on the ESO community for the recent layoffs. We all know the push for AI is affecting the lives of everyone nowadays.

But I am astonished when I read comments like: "why lay off all the writing team!" - like, really? Take a look at how many pages have been written here in the last 5 years about HOW BAD writing in ESO is.
Same goes for other stuff like: "how is it possible art team members got laid off!" - again, look how many times people have said the game looks dated, and requested to make it look better.
And I don't know if any forum moderator got laid off, but have you never seen all the complaining about certain forum moderators "being tyrants"? (Not you, our beloved thane Kevin )

Let me be clear: I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST ANY DEV personally, I don't know them, so I can only have empathy for the difficult situation they have to face.

But when a company like Microsoft does layoffs do you really think they are random?
It was made known to us that "high powers" were taking a look into Zos when Matt Firor was the head of the Studio - there was a thread in which they directly asked us: "give us your feedback on everything you think is wrong".
If they read that thread and everything else that's been said here in the subsequent months... Be honest, we know why these layoffs have been made. Even things like Dungeons and the Content creator side got criticized. So...

I AM NOT JUSTIFYING MICROSOFT, and I am sad too in hearing these news.

Massive layoffs always bring morale down. The look of this doesn't sound promising for the future of the game, and ESO is one of the MOST SUCCESSFUL MMOs - this not only is worrisome for ESO, or XBOX, but for the whole gaming industry.

I just want to remind you, ESO community, that when you get loud shouting for a change you want and don't see happening, threatening that you'll stop giving money, you shouldn't expect that the exact same people that, for example, "has written bad" for the past 5 years will magically "write good" after knowing your opinion... It's more likely that they'll be replaced if someone high in the hierarchy sees your complaints.

I don't want this thread to be negative so I'll close my message with a positive note: We can't change what's already happened, but we can learn and help shape the future. Even if it's hard, let's preserve hope, give courage to our remaining squad, and who knows, maybe the Studio will see new force coming in from other good people we'll welcome and appreciate.

Today we mourn the loss of our brothers, but lest we forget our responsibility, for them, for us, and for those who come after.

If our words would bear consequences the game wouldnt be in the state it is right now and not so many people would of left already.

Vengeance wouldnt of happened, overland difficulty long ago, no subclassing , no hybridisation, crossplay long ago.

Its good that we give critism but its getting ignored and the reason these people got laid of is simple : Money.

It has nothign to do with us and the people who got laid off or will get laid off in the second layoff are being chosen by internal factors and mostly because of cost income value.
Dont search the fault at the playing and PAYING costumers. This is us btw

Indeed. It’s a unique confluence of: 1. Gaming crash. 2. AI 3. Gamepass gamble being an absolute dud. 4. New CEO with a focus on cost-cutting and a complete reboot of the brand. 5. Slow reaction to market pressures and features.

The last one is a ZOS issue and self-inflicted and has nothing to do with players not voicing their dissent, suggestions, worries ad nauseam. It wasn’t until the new Director took over that any kind of forward-moving, game expanding plan was enacted. In fact, having been around so many MMOs, I think ESO has one of the most polite and engaged communities you will ever find. That’s probably why this news hit so many so hard.

ksbrugh · July 7

If you think for 1 minute, anybody at Microsoft headquarters has ever visited this website or paid attention to anything we have said over the years. Or listen to any of our complaints and actually been concerned to the point that it steers their decisions. Lolololololololololol.

I've got some PS6 PHYSICAL DISC games for sale that I will let go for cheap price lolol

merevie · July 7

Which is why we go to the bigger fish affected by today -the millions of views channels where the larger Xbox community resides who were also hit today. And yes, millions of players together make a difference -Krafton.

AzuraFan · July 7

I doubt very much anyone in a position at Microsoft or ZOS chose who to layoff based on what we say here on the forums. Everyone knows gamers talk [censored], and nobody in their right mind would make business decisions based on what people say on a gaming forum.

If our words had that much power, the game would look quite different than it does today.

AScarlato · July 7

I doubt Asha was reading our forum threads when deciding which 3000 people to lay off.

Varana · July 7

SkaiFaith wrote: »

But when a company like Microsoft does layoffs do you really think they are random?

Not random.

But they have zero to do with the actual game. They don't care about whether people like the game, or criticise the game, or anything even close to that.

ESO is a tiny cog in a giant machine that doesn't produce games, or software, or sells stuff. Microslop doesn't care about the quality of what the machine spits out.

The giant machine makes money by presenting a line that goes up, to shareholders and vultures on the stock market. That is their product. And at the moment, to make that "line goes up" product, you cut humans and pump money into AI.

Microsoft doesn't care whether ESO is a good game.

Lekjih · July 7

Me saying "this story content is nostalgia baiting, this story was done better in base game, and this story feels like AI gen pasted in" is not "oh you should fire half the team", it's "can we have less of that please?" and was phrased as such. It's not players saying hey we have an issue that's getting people fired, it's the soul shriven left in charge of corporations who can't read subtlety and overreached in the name of greed..

Soarora · July 7

We are nothing but specks of dust to Microsoft. It’s not us. They don’t care about us. They care about money. And in this instance, it seems to be by cutting well-paid individuals and cutting out entire job positions. For better and for worse. Even if ESO was ultra successful, that wouldn’t save it. Xbox dug themselves into a hole.

ivaylo.krumoveb17_ESO · July 7

Very well put, OP.

As for the rest of the whinners - M$ do care about the game. About the bottom line. And the bottom line of ESO is bad. Years of mismanagement, ignoring feedback and diverting funds to someone's pet projects are the root cause. I do mourn the loss of some of the folks, especially Gina, but thats what you get after years of neglecting your cash cow.

ZOS_Icy · July 7

Greetings,

With there already being a thread opened on this subject here, we're going to go ahead and close this one down.

The Elder Scrolls Online Team