Bethesda reportedly affected by studio closure amidst Microsoft layoffs

It never gets any easier to talk about the mass layoffs happening in the games industry but now a recent report reveals that Bethesda may have been affected by Microsoft’s recent decision.

Announced back in January of this year, Microsoft revealed that it would be cutting around 1,900 employees from its company throughout the year.

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As you can imagine, this decision was not received well, especially considering Activision Blizzard had already been affected by layoffs despite being purchased by Microsoft back in 2023.

Although the 2024 cuts would equal around 8% of its workforce, Microsoft did not divulge who would be affected. However, recent rumours have uncovered that it is Bethesda France who may have been affected.

Despite only having 15 employees in total, Bethesda France had been operating for 12 years. However, according to a report by Insider Gaming, multiple employees have discussed its closure on social media. This includes former Bethesda France community manager Scotty Cool.

He recently took to Twitter to talk about his eight-years at Bethesda France and thanked his community for the support. In the replies, he confirms that it was due to Microsoft’s mass-layoffs that he left the company.

“Mass layoffs at Microsoft, globally”, he said.

Although this is heartbreaking news for the employees at Bethesda France, it is highly doubtful that this decision will affect upcoming Bethesda titles. This is due to Bethesda France being focused on the marketing and publishing side of the gaming industry.

This means that long-anticipated titles such as Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls VI should still be in development with no changes. However, when we will finally get to play them remains to be seen.

As for the rest of Microsoft’s 2024 lay-offs, it is still unconfirmed which companies were affected. However, it sees as though the majority of them were aimed at secondary areas such as customer service, marketing and publishing.