In the midst of Xbox’s company-wide layoffs, it looks like The Elder Scrolls Online developer Zenimax Online Studios has been one of the hardest-hit studios. According to Kotaku, the layoffs have been bad enough that the studio has had to reconsider its content roadmap for the MMORPG, with community manager Jessica Folsom posting on the title’s forums that “the roadmaps we previously shared will be shifting.”
“Looking beyond Season One, the roadmaps we previously shared will be shifting. We want to take the time to evaluate the work in front of us and then lock down an updated schedule. While we’d love to share concrete details today, stepping back to get our plans straight will let us come back to you with a clear timeline.”
The layoffs at Zenimax Online Studios have been further confirmed thanks to LinkedIn posts by more than 20 now-former employees of the studio. While the total number of jobs affected by these layoffs at the studio is currently unknown, many of those let go had spent more than a decade working there.
The report has noted that Zenimax Online Studios has been hit by layoffs so hard that former employers are now unsure how The Elder Scrolls Online would even continue to function. It is worth noting that the MMORPG has only recently shifted to a seasonal content structure – a change from its previous expansion-based structure. Following last year’s release of the Solstice expansion, the MMO was set to kick off its first season later this week.
This is far from the first time Zenimax Online Studios has been hit with layoffs. Last year also saw job cuts, with a new in-development MMO codenamed Blackbird getting entirely cancelled and its development team being let go. Blackbird was going to be a new sci-fi IP entirely separate from The Elder Scrolls Online, and was noted as being in development since 2018. Much of the time was said to be spent on developing a new game engine to power it.
Due to this, Blackbird hadn’t yet entered full production by the time it was cancelled. Rather, it was expected to have done so “soon”, with Xbox having given the team approval to scale up its development efforts. Interestingly, former Xbox division boss Phil Spencer was rumored to have played early builds of Blackbird and had seemingly enjoyed it.
These job cuts from last year would culminate with many of the former employees of the studio founding their own development teams, including Sackbird Studios and Ironroot Games.
Recent reports have indicated that while the MMORPG team has been hit quite hard, other studios under the Zenimax banner won’t see development stopped on their own projects. This includes Bethesda Game Studios, MachineGames, and id Software.
“ZeniMax will be impacted significantly by the reorganization but will NOT be reduced to only Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, despite rumors over the last few weeks. The publisher will also still work on Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake,” said Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier.
For more on the recent layoffs at Xbox, take a look at our report.
