Once again, Microsoft and Xbox are making headlines for something other than their announcements of upcoming releases. It will not have escaped you that the Redmond firm is preparing to begin a wave of massive layoffs and we are beginning to glimpse the outlines more precisely. Especially in what interests us most here, the video games and Xbox branch. According to Bloomberg, Bethesda would be directly affected by this wave and, only two years after its takeover, let’s look at what this could imply.
Two years after its acquisition, the workforce of Bethesda will be reduced
It was Jason Schreier who revealed that Microsoft’s gaming division was also affected by this wave of layoffs. At first, we know that the studio in charge of Halo, 343 Industries, is affected by this wave. But the Bloomberg journalist also indicates that Bethesda will suffer cuts in its workforce. At the time of writing, no precise data concerning Bethesda is known, so we will have to wait in order to fully analyze the extent of the damage.
However, just two years after the acquisition of Zenimax, the parent company of Bethesda, Microsoft is sending very contradictory signals while it is in the process of acquiring Activision-Blizzard-King. Where everything should be done to reassure the FTC and the British and European authorities, making cuts in the workforce of a studio acquired so recently will not play in their favor. Especially when you know that Bethesda is carrying what should give a boost to Xbox and Xbox Game Pass: Starfield.
In full acquisition of Activision, dismissals at Bethesda which question
If we look back, we can also observe that this kind of practice by a publisher can sometimes lead to harmful consequences for the studios. At the end of the 2000s, Elecronic Arts had to part with 1,500 employees, leading to the closure of EA Black Box (Need for speed Carbon) and Mythic which had been merged with BioWare. These two studios had however been bought a few years earlier.
Of course, there is no question here of speculating on any closing of a studio at Bethesda. But still in a tense context around the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft, this is the kind of precedent that could be questioned during the ongoing legal proceedings. Above all, this causes the Redmond firm to lose credit and will certainly give a new card to play for its detractors.
