Teams across Xbox are still just beginning to feel the deep impact of this month’s 1,600 layoffs. Those cuts have now been revealed to include leadership at ZeniMax Online Studios, the team that makes The Elder Scrolls Online. Studio head Jo Burba, who took over last July after the last round of mass Xbox layoffs, is among those who will depart after 14 years at the company.
That’s according to a report by Game File on an internal memo shared with staff on July 15. Elder Scrolls Online executive producer Susan Kath, studio game director Rich Lambert, and production director Ala Diaz are also among the cuts. They told staff at ZeniMax Online that they would remain in place for the next few months as the team transitions to a new set of leaders.
“We have tremendous confidence in Josh and Nick, the future of this studio, and the continued growth of ESO,” Burba told staff in part of the message, according to Game File.
A WARN Act notice filed with the state of Maryland showed 379 layoffs across Microsoft and subsidiary ZeniMax’s offices there, which include Bethesda Game Studios. The notice points to cuts to senior leader positions like Studio Operations Director, Studio Art Manager, and Vice President and Controller.
The cuts have led to concerns among some staff on the affected teams that game development would be negatively impacted as a result. “We want to take the time to evaluate the work in front of us and then lock down an updated schedule,” ESO‘s community manager announced once the Xbox layoffs began. The studio later wrote that the development team remained as big as when it shipped its popular Wrothgar and Summerset expansions.
Senior encounter designer Morgan Goin was much less optimistic. “We’re not going to be able to put out the amount of content at the speed that we were… or anything approaching that,” she told the BBC. The designer said she felt blindsided by the cuts, which still haven’t wrapped up for the year. Another 1,600 people across Xbox are expected to be laid off by July 2027.
Burba took over ZeniMax Online Studios only a year ago following the last round of deep cuts to the studio. A large part of those were due to Microsoft canceling a reportedly very promising sci-fi shooter MMO called Project Blackbird. “Making games is always a heartbreaking business,” Matt Firor, who exited as studio head over the cancelation, told MinnMax earlier this year.
“Like, no matter what happens, you could be at the best studio in the world, and decisions happen that impact people. I didn’t agree with what happened, but I understood the reasoning behind it. It is just financial.” Firor added, “We’re a number on a ledger, and if that number is large, it is ripe for analysis, shall we say, and that number was always large.”
