Bethesda Game Studios and ZeniMax hit hard by Xbox layoffs, says union
Overview & Key Takeaways
ZeniMax Online Studios and id Software have survived the latest bloodbath at Microsoft, but it sounds like they've been cut deeply.
Today's Xbox layoffs may have hit Bethesda and ZeniMax particularly hard, as reports of "significant" cuts have begun to surface and the Bethesda Game Workers Union says that "many" employees at Bethesda Game Studios have been let go.
Today's announcement of major layoffs at Xbox and the spinoff of four studios—Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Ninja Theory, and Undead Labs—also included word from CEO Asha Sharma that company is "making reductions across other units, and in some cases, shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects. These changes vary in size across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and Xbox Game Studios."
Details on studio-specific cuts haven't been announced, but Bloomberg's Jason Schreier said on Bluesky that ZeniMax Media, the parent of id Software, Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax Online Studios, and others, "will be impacted significantly by the reorganization," although he added that Bethesda will not be pared down to just Fallout and The Elder Scrolls teams, as some reports have claimed: "The publisher will also still work on Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake."
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But some of the studios responsible for those games are also reportedly being hit hard: "Studios in the Bethesda organization like id Software (Doom) and ZeniMax Online Studios (Elder Scrolls Online) are not shutting down but are cutting a significant number of staff this morning, per sources," Schreier added in a subsequent post.
A separate statement from the Bethesda Game Workers Union, the "wall to wall" union that formed in 2024, also indicated that the cuts run deep.
In what is becoming a stressful annual routine, Microsoft has decided to lay off thousands, including MANY of us at Bethesda Games Studios. With over 10k developers already cut from previous rounds, those at the top have deemed that insufficient in fixing their mistakes.
— @bethesdaunion.bsky.social (@bethesdaunion.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-06T16:29:42.450Z
"In what is becoming a stressful annual routine, Microsoft has decided to lay off thousands, including MANY of us at Bethesda Games Studios," the union wrote on Bluesky. "With over 10k developers already cut from previous rounds, those at the top have deemed that insufficient in fixing their mistakes.
"Today we say goodbye to many of our friends and colleagues and to hundreds more across Xbox, including folks that have worked at Bethesda Games Studios for decades. When will this cycle of cuts in pursuit of ever-greater profits end?"
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I've reached out to Bethesda and the Bethesda Game Workers Union for more information and will update if I receive a reply.
