Mighty Doom’s developer, Alpha Dog Games, is likewise closing. ZeniMax Online Studios, the company behind The Elder Scrolls Online, will acquire Roundhouse Studios.
Although Microsoft, which is presently valued at over $3 trillion, has not disclosed the number of employees it plans to lay off, large layoffs seem unavoidable. IGN has contacted Bethesda for an answer.
Microsoft told IGN that it would not grow any further.
Microsoft has halted development on Redfall, the catastrophic vampire cooperative game, meaning it will no longer receive promised improvements, such as an offline option and new character DLC.
According to Microsoft, Redfall will still be playable online and will provide anyone who purchased the Hero DLC with a “make-good” deal.
Along with Machine Games and Bethesda Game Studios, Arkane Lyon, which is developing Marvel’s Blade, also makes it through the cull.
Moreover, Doom developer ID Software is not impacted.
Microsoft attributed the cutbacks to a “reprioritization of titles and resources” in an email addressed to employees by Xbox Game Studios president Matt Booty.
We are making adjustments to our Bethesda and ZeniMax teams, which I will be announcing today.
These adjustments are based on giving high-impact projects priority and increasing funding for Bethesda’s library of critically acclaimed games and cherished worlds that you have developed over many years.
We must search throughout the company to find the prospects that are most likely to succeed if we are to invest in expanding these franchises and double down on the ones we already have.
A few teams may realign with others as a result of this reorganization of titles and resources, and some of our coworkers will be departing.
Some team members will relocate to other studios in Bethesda to continue working on projects when Arkane Austin closes.
With a track record of creating influential and inventive games, Arkane Austin is a creator of whom everyone should be proud.
We will continue to allow players to access the game and its servers, and we will offer make-good deals to those who bought the Hero DLC.
The Alpha Dog Studios will also be closing. We value the team’s inventiveness in introducing Doom to fresh players.
On August 7, Mighty Doom will come to an end, and player purchases will no longer be possible in the game.
Additionally, Tango Gameworks will close. We appreciate everything they have done for Bethesda and gamers everywhere.
HelloPlayers will still be able to access Fi Rush on the current platforms.
Roundhouse Games: ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS) will welcome the Roundhouse Games crew.
Bringing Roundhouse inside ZOS to work on The Elder Scrolls Online will allow us to do even more to expand the world that millions of players call home.
Roundhouse has been instrumental in many of our recent game launches.
A few positions within a few Bethesda publishing and corporate teams will also be terminated as part of this reorganization of our Bethesda studio teams, which will allow us to spend more heavily on our portfolio of games and new material.
We will notify those whose responsibilities may be affected today, and we kindly request that you show your departing coworkers dignity and consideration.
We pledge to support anyone affected by today’s notices and their transitions to the fullest extent possible, including offering severance compensation compliant with local regulations.
These modifications don’t represent the innovation, aptitude, or daring of the gifted members of these teams or their willingness to take chances and attempt new things.
I understand that the different support teams at Bethesda and ZeniMax who work to get our titles to market are also negatively impacted by these changes.
The news of Microsoft’s layoffs at Bethesda comes more than three months after the corporation declared its intention to lay off 1,900 employees from its video game division.
Additionally, Bethesda’s Fallout series is experiencing a surge in popularity following the success of the breakthrough smash Prime Video TV show.
Just over a year has passed since the release of Hi-Fi Rush, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest Xbox games of recent years, until Tango Gameworks closes.
In response to worries that Hi-Fi Rush had fallen short of sales projections, Aaron Greenberg, vice president of Xbox Games marketing at Microsoft, tweeted in April 2023, referring to the game as “a break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations.” Greenberg went on, saying, “The Tango team has exceeded our expectations.
Chief of Arkane Lyon, Dinga Bakaba, attacked the cuts in a series of tweets, labeling them “absolutely terrible.”
“To any executive reading this, friendly reminder that video games are an entertainment/cultural industry, and your business as a corporation is to take care of your artists/entertainers and help them create value for you,” Bakaba went on.
“Don’t make our workplaces Darwinist jungles, don’t use us as strawmen for errors in judgment or blind spots, and don’t put us in gold fever traps.”
You say that every time we make a decent game, we make you proud. In difficult times, make us proud. We have seen it before, so we know you can. For the time being, it is heartbreaking to see great teams disappear right before our eyes once more.
Lyon is secure, but in all of this, please exercise discretion and sensitivity. Respect the voices of those who are affected and give them space to be heard; after all, it’s their narrative to tell and their emotions to convey.
“I swear to God, inside baseball, but if I read about the ‘immersive sim curse’ from the community, particularly from a fellow developer… Please, instead of rehashing baseless fears from the past, let’s discuss the real issues.
“Even more inside baseball, but with a very, very wide range, as a wise and sorely missed man said: ‘Please Stop.'”
In the video game industry, layoffs are becoming commonplace, with several well-known studios reducing employment or closing entirely.
Mass layoffs were one of the most significant industry developments in 2023 and 2024, which stands in stark contrast to a year of massive video game hits.
Estimates indicate that the number of employees let go in the gaming industry last year was close to or more than 10,000, although precise numbers are hard to come by.
According to a recent GDC developer survey, one-third of all game developers experienced layoffs in the previous year, either personally or through seeing them occur at their place of employment