Back in June, reports emerged that a looming restructuring at Xbox would result in layoffs on an unprecedented scale. In the weeks that followed, report after report dripped out as, internally, individuals caught wind of who might be impacted. Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory were in danger, we learned (they are all being spun off). On June 30 alone, we saw reports of third-party contracts being cut, unions frantically negotiating layoff protections, Xbox pulling out of IO Interactive’s Project Fantasy, triggering layoffs over there, and Arkane also being in some kind of trouble (it’s currently in consultation).
It was a long month of entirely earned, god-awful press for Xbox, one during which you’d think the company might have something to say for itself. So how was Xbox responding to all this chaos, to the fear and grief and uncertainty of its thousands of employees and the confusion of its community as to what its future would be?
Why, by hopping on the positive PR circuit, of course.
On June 22, right in the middle of all this, Entertainment Weekly published a huge, Xbox 25th anniversary piece, complete with an Asha Sharma and Matt Booty interview. It was gushy, highlighting Sharma’s popularity with the gamers after a Game Pass price drop and making Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution console exclusive, and it glossed over the bloodbath to come by publishing a fairly dismissive statement from Sharma (“Technology companies are going through this, entertainment companies are going through this, and certainly gaming is not immune to it…”) and characterizing her as “direct and matter-of-fact about the issues ahead.”
The rest of the article fawned over Xbox’s Hollywood adaptation ambitions, Minecraft‘s success, Call of Duty, Candy Crush, and so forth: the games Xbox wants to keep the spotlight on in the future, notably. It also included some quotes from Hideo Kojima on upcoming Xbox exclusive OD. A week later, on June 30, the same day as all the reports about contractors and unions and Project Fantasy and Arkane, a similar thing happened again. A report began circulating that OD was “safe” from the reset plan. Well, I guess everything’s fine then, if we still have our Kojima game, right?
This would not be the last time we’d see Xbox try to save face by dangling a shiny new project in front of gamers’ faces to distract from the devastation it wrought internally. In fact, it has become abundantly clear that shaking keys at us, as if we are toddlers, is the strategy it has chosen to save itself from reputational ruination in the wake of carving a massive scar right through the industry. It has done this several times in the weeks since as the news coming out of the company grew more and more dire. It did this again today. I have no doubt it will jangle the keys again in the future.
Look at id Software. In the days after the layoffs, we learned that 96 individuals were cut from the studio’s Richardson office, in addition to 40 remote staff reporting there: around half the studio, all in all. id Frankfurt was also hit. Multiple sources told Kotaku that key positions and entire teams were eliminated, including individuals in charge of id Tech, though Xbox disputes the claim that there’s only one person left working on it. Even so, multiple sources told us that they weren’t sure how work could continue on it given the level of institutional knowledge that had been lost. “id Tech as a technology is probably dead forever,” one person said.
Xbox has been aggressively trying to push back since then, but not by offering details on what sort of personpower the studio still has, or explaining what sorts of roles it cut, and why, or what the studio’s plan to continue moving forward will be. Instead, it’s jangling the keys again. “We still have the crew we need to build the games and tech we’re known for,” the studio shared in an official statement the day after the report. “The team today is about the same size we were when making Doom (2016). We have always had a flat studio where everyone is a maker, and we will remain true to that philosophy moving forward.” A week later, creative director Hugo Martin reiterated this sentiment with an even more uncomfortable remark added in:
Look, the fact that we made a game that people like and is critical and commercially successful–like I said, it’s doing very well related to the forecast and stuff–that’s good for everyone, for the people at the studio, for the people who, unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to, I think that helps everyone and we really appreciate your support. But what matters the most is that the games are good and I’m so happy that people, I don’t know…It’s just a good thing for everybody, it’s going to help.
Ah yes, of course. The games. As long as the games are good, who cares what happens to those that make them, right?
Oh, I’m not done. Let’s see how things are going over on The Elder Scrolls Online. Oh, the team was gutted? Including key leadership? After also suffering major layoffs last year? That doesn’t seem good for ESO. But don’t worry, everyone. The team is apparently “at the same size as it was when they made both Wrothgar and Summerset. Which, as we know, are both highly acclaimed DLCs,” according to the associate design director and the associate director of community management. So, I guess any roles added over the last decade were added for absolutely no good reason then, huh? I’m sure it’s fine. Remember how good those expansions were? Remember how popular they were and how much you liked them? Just imagine that Zenimax is doing the exact same sort of thing now, and all the bad feelings will go away.
And we’re doing all this again today! The last few weeks have seen emerging reports of devastation across Bethesda. Devs working on The Elder Scrolls VI are worried about the game being further delayed due to the cuts. Bethesda HR forced staff to remove an in-office memorial to their laid-off colleagues. Bethesda union workers, among others, rallied earlier this week to protest the layoffs, and are filing unfair labor practice charges against Xbox for allegedly mishandling them. The Bethesda Game Studios union says that a total of 440 union roles were eliminated across Zenimax and Bethesda’s organized workers.
None of that is good PR for Xbox, so Todd Howard has been paraded out with a statement that does not once mention the massive loss of talent and experience across Bethesda’s staff, but instead focuses on all the cool, shiny new games the studios are making. Have they checked to make sure they didn’t inadvertently get rid of key individuals necessary to making all of that? I have no idea, but given all the things Xbox devs have said publicly, I’m not super confident they have. And don’t get me started on how ominous this all feels for the ESO team, which is apparently going to be working in “closer collaboration” with Bethesda going forward—always a great sign amid massive restructuring.
But it’s fine! We’ve got The Elder Scrolls VI! Fallout 5! Remasters of Fallout 3 and New Vegas! A new Fallout made by Obsidian! Updates for Starfield! An expansion for Fallout 76! A reality show based on Fallout Shelter for some reason! You see, it’s fine! Look at all the Fallout we can make with the folks we have left!
Look at the sparkly, jangling games! Watch the big IP! We’re doing things that are so popular and good, you don’t need to worry about the thousands of lives being upended by rich people’s poor decision making! The games are good. That’s all that matters.
