Overview
- A WARN notice reviewed by multiple outlets shows Microsoft and ZeniMax eliminated 379 roles in Maryland, with about 213 jobs at ZeniMax Online Studios and 166 at ZeniMax Media.
- ZeniMax Online Studio head Joe Burba and senior leaders Susan Kath, Rich Lambert, and Ala Diaz are departing and will hand off responsibilities to Josh Henderson and Nick Giacomini over a planned transition period.
- Quality assurance and other technical teams were hit hard, with roughly 89 QA roles listed in the filing and some disciplines reduced to a fraction of their former size.
- Laid‑off developers, including senior encounter designer Morgan Goin, say the cuts mean The Elder Scrolls Online cannot sustain its previous content cadence and that updates will slow, while the studio has said Season One will still launch but longer‑term roadmaps will be revised.
- The Maryland layoffs are part of a broader Xbox plan to cut about 3,200 roles to prioritize tentpole IP and improve divisional margins, and the changes have prompted union complaints, protests, and warnings that lost institutional knowledge could delay future Elder Scrolls and Fallout work.