00:00Microsoft layoffs hit ZeniMax hard as new filing reveals nearly 400 jobs eliminated.
00:08Newly released government filings have revealed the full extent of Microsoft's latest layoffs
00:14at ZeniMax, showing that 379 employees lost their jobs across ZeniMax Online Studios and
00:21ZeniMax Media.
00:22According to a Maryland Warrant Act filing, 213 of those layoffs came from ZeniMax Online
00:29Studios, the developer behind the Elder Scrolls Online, while another 166 employees were let
00:35go from ZeniMax Media, Bethesda's parent company.
00:39The filing does not separate Bethesda Game Studios into its own category because Bethesda
00:44and ZeniMax Media share the same office location.
00:47As a result, it remains unclear exactly how many of those 166 layoffs directly affected
00:54Bethesda's developers versus employees working in publishing and other support roles.
01:00The Maryland filing follows a separate Warrant Notice in Texas that previously confirmed 136
01:07layoffs at id Software, the studio behind Doom.
01:11Those job cuts were also listed under ZeniMax Media.
01:14The numbers paint an especially concerning picture for ZeniMax Online Studios.
01:20Reports from late 2024 indicated that the studio's employee union represented approximately 461 workers.
01:28Combined with a previous round of layoffs in July 2025 that eliminated 62 positions, the
01:35studio has reportedly lost 275 employees over the past year.
01:40If those figures are accurate, ZeniMax Online Studios now has roughly 186 employees remaining,
01:47around 40% of the workforce it had just over a year ago.
01:51That represents a reduction of approximately 60% of the studio's staff in a relatively short period.
01:58The scale of the cuts has surprised many within the gaming community, particularly because
02:03the Elder Scrolls Online has long been viewed as one of Bethesda's most successful live service titles.
02:10A LinkedIn profile from former ESO UX lead Gary Boudhu, shared online in 2024 before being edited, claimed the MMO
02:19had generated roughly $15 million in monthly revenue for more than a decade.
02:24While those figures have not been officially confirmed by Microsoft or ZeniMax, they have fueled questions
02:31about why a studio associated with a consistently profitable game experiences such significant layoffs.
02:38The gaming community had responded with frustration, with many pointing to Microsoft's ongoing cost-cutting
02:44efforts despite strong revenues from several of its gaming divisions.
02:48Others argued that the layoffs highlight a broader trend across the industry, where even successful
02:54studios and profitable live service games are no longer insulated from large-scale restructuring.
03:01Although Microsoft has not provided a detailed explanation for the reductions at ZeniMax Online Studios,
03:07the Warn filings offer the clearest picture yet of just how deeply the latest round of layoff
03:12has affected one of Bethesda's largest development teams.
03:20And with that, I have to say, are you really surprised that this was coming?
03:28This is something else I thought we could be sure of that was to follow.
03:36Now, why would I say that?
03:38Well, when Phil Spencer was making decisions left and right that would make a normal person
03:44scratch their head and go, why make that decision?
03:49He was losing money left and right for Xbox.
03:55So you have Phil Spencer making decisions that no sane person would make.
04:01I called him out many times when me and Dr. Games 101 did this podcast together.
04:08Some of the clips are still up there about how I criticized Phil Spencer, rightfully so.
04:15And like I said, I don't know what took Phil Spencer's bosses so long to remove him from
04:23what he was doing.
04:24Phil Spencer, with what he did, they're going to have to make up the money that he lost somewhere
04:34with his bad decision making.
04:36I'm expecting more studios to have to either A, have a significant portion of their workforce
04:45cut or to be shut down entirely because they got to do something.
04:52They can't, they can't just kick, they can't just kick the can down the road.
04:57If they were going to do that, they might as well have left Phil Spencer and control what
05:01he had control in.
05:03So, do, you know, but the thing is, they got to make that, they got to make that money and
05:09they got to do something different.
05:14So, you know, I mean, it sucks, you know, I never really cared about the Elder Scrolls
05:18online, but come on, Doom has been one of my favorite games since I was a kid, maybe like
05:25in the top five somewhere.
05:28Yeah, so, you know, it sucks, it sucks what happened with ZeniMax, but I would not be surprised
05:39if they are the, if this is, if it doesn't end with them, basically.
05:45But I do think this is all connected to Phil Spencer's mess that he spent years creating,
05:50by the way.
05:51Think about it, he spent years creating this mess, bad decision after bad decision.
05:56This is the same guy who said he knew when the Activision Blizzard merger went through,
06:01he was going to have to fire thousands of employees.
06:04He said he knew that.
06:08And that's just one of the many, many bad decisions that I've called him out on over
06:13the years.
06:16So, yeah, the fact that he, the fact that Microsoft has to shut down studios now, what did you expect
06:28them to do?
06:29Just keep losing money at the same rate?
06:32Like I said, it sucks, but Xbox itself might be, might need to restructure almost entirely,
06:39or a significant portion of Xbox might need to restructure to undo this damage.
06:47So, it sucks what happened to ZeniMax, it sucks what's happening to Bethesda, but at the
06:55same time, it was the former guy in charge.
07:00That set these events in motion to happen later on.
07:08So, you know, it sucks, but I would not be surprised if this leads to more in the future,
07:15in the near future.
Comments