After ZeniMax layoffs, The Elder Scrolls Online may never be the same

Sadly, that's not really surprising. Elder Scrolls Online Developer ZeniMax Online Studios has suffered from Microsoft's recent workforce cuts, but recent developments show just how bad things are for the Maryland company. ZeniMax Online's staff has been cut by more than 200 people as part of Microsoft's latest round of roundups, which includes several senior positions, including Studio Head Joseph Burba, a 14-year veteran of the company.

Other notable roles affected include Director of Studio Operations, Studio Game Director, Studio Art Manager, and Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development. This is a shocking turn of events, Elder Scrolls Online As an MMO, it's a genre that needs much more ongoing support than other genres. Since there are so many removals, it is highly likely that: Elder Scrolls Online You might meet the same fate as me. Destiny 2 Not long after, despite still having a healthy player base. This is obviously a shame on many levels, but this massive talent drain could have much more serious consequences for ZeniMax Online in the future.

As mentioned earlier, Elder Scrolls Online As an online game, special care needs to be taken, and such a large-scale reduction in personnel will almost certainly have a knock-on effect on the game's content going forward. But what's more interesting is what this might mean for ZeniMax Online Studios, a developer that literally has the word “online” in its name. It's highly unlikely that this particular line of ZeniMax will scale down in the future by creating smaller single-player games, or even smaller multiplayer games. It's hard to guess what ZeniMax and Microsoft have planned for the studio, but at this point, a closure seems more likely than a return.

Naturally, public statements about ZeniMax's future are more optimistic. In a letter obtained by Gamefile, ESO “We have great confidence in the game’s continued growth,” said Producer Susan Kath and Studio Game Director Rich Lambert. ESO“ Under the new leadership of Josh Henderson and Nick Giacomini, Henderson was previously head of business operations and Giacomini was promoted from director of product management to director of gaming. Elder Scrolls Online Just last year. It appears that the two will co-lead the studio.

These statements are difficult to understand, and even more difficult to take at face value. There hasn't been much of a status quo on Xbox lately. The brand bought billions of dollars worth of studios just a few years ago, but now that many of those studios have closed or downsized, it promises “continued growth” in games such as: ESO It may feel unfriendly. If ZeniMax Online is truly planning to grow Elder Scrolls OnlineConsidering this exodus of talent, we're probably going to be in for a bit of a difficult time. With more than six senior positions eliminated, the leadership structure now looks like this: ESO Surpassing the 10-year mark – an increasingly rare milestone in the live service space – has now been flipped. Like Id Software before it, consistently strong performance wasn't enough to save ZeniMax from the dreaded “Xbox reset.”

The future of ZeniMax's online studio suddenly appears to be in jeopardy.

More than 200 roles were terminated at ZeniMax Online this summer as well, and while we're confident that at least some of these roles will be refilled in the coming months and years, the loss of talent and experience is not so easy to replace. This is especially true for those in leadership and management positions who are affected. With so many sudden changes in leadership and chain of command and such busy times in the industry, you never really know how your team will respond. Even if ZeniMax decides to invest heavily in new talent (something that seems incredibly likely given the reasons behind Xbox's mass layoffs), this new talent may not be the best fit for ZeniMax. ESO. If so that would be one thing ESO It was floundering and desperately needed new leadership, but that didn't seem to be the case.

One of the reasons stories like this are so frustrating is because these decisions are so counterintuitive from the consumer's perspective. You can improve revenue and perceived growth by aggressively cutting roles, and while you may be reducing some of your company's staff, at the end of the day, it's the talented, dedicated people who make the games. If a gaming company were to lay off thousands of employees, they would miss out on all the ideas, support, and expertise these people would have provided for the future. These ideas and experiences combine to create an amazing game, and you can't put a price on it.

The ZeniMax online situation is a microcosm of the game's larger problem.

I don't mean to criticize anyone, but situations like this are how companies like BioWare and Konami fall from grace. We've seen over the years how seriously the departure of one person (e.g. Casey Hudson, Hideo Kojima) can affect a studio's output and public perception. fire ESO Employees like Joseph Burba and Susan Kath may not be Hudson or Kojima level developers, but they still have decades of industry experience that would be incredibly difficult to replicate, especially during a company-wide restructuring intentionally designed to cut costs.

I always hope that those affected by layoffs will rise up and donate their talents elsewhere and enrich the industry, and this case is no different. But with tens of thousands of gaming industry workers laid off in just a few years, I wonder how many will simply move on to other fields, and how many bright young developers will give up on their dreams in light of the not-so-glamorous industry landscape. We can only hope that studios like ZeniMax Online can weather this storm and that the industry moves toward more sustainable practices in the future.

released

April 4, 2014

ESRB

M (Mature): Blood and gore, sexual themes, alcohol, violence.