Two of Bethesda’s most important studios appear to have taken the heaviest hits in Microsoft’s latest round of Xbox layoffs, with reports pointing to the majority of id Software and up to half of ZeniMax Online Studios losing their jobs as part of roughly 4,800 cuts across the division.
- 3D Realms co-founder Scott Miller claims the ‘majority’ of id Software has been laid off, including most or all of its coders; this remains a reported figure, not an official Microsoft number.
- Kotaku’s sources say up to half of ZeniMax Online, the studio behind The Elder Scrolls Online, has been let go.
- ESO’s community team says it remains ‘committed to the game’, but previously shared roadmaps ‘will be shifting’ while an updated schedule is worked out.
- No game cancellations or shutdowns have been announced, and existing titles like DOOM and ESO remain playable as normal in the UAE and everywhere else.
What the reports actually claim
The most alarming figure comes from 3D Realms co-founder Scott Miller, who says the ‘majority’ of id Software has been laid off, ‘including most (if not all) coders’. That is a startling claim about the studio behind DOOM, and it is worth being clear about its status: it is a reported estimate from an industry figure, not an official Microsoft or Bethesda headcount. Community aggregation of the layoffs puts the number at around 95 people from a studio estimated at 150 to 200 staff, which would mean roughly half or more of the workforce is affected. Either way, it is a severe reduction, and id job listings had already vanished from the ZeniMax careers portal in mid-June.
Over at ZeniMax Online Studios, the developer of The Elder Scrolls Online, Kotaku’s sources report that up to half of the staff have been let go. Again, the ‘up to’ is doing real work there, and the exact proportion is not confirmed. But even the conservative reading points to a studio operating with far fewer people than it had a month ago.
What it means for DOOM and The Elder Scrolls Online
Neither studio is closing, and no games have been cancelled. ESO community manager Jessica Folsom posted on the official forum that the team is still ‘committed to the game’, while acknowledging that ‘the roadmaps we previously shared will be shifting’ as the studio evaluates the work ahead and locks down an updated schedule. Translated from community-manager speak: expect the content cadence to change, but the servers are staying on.
For players in the UAE, nothing changes today. DOOM and The Elder Scrolls Online remain fully playable across Xbox, PlayStation and PC, with no delistings or regional shutdowns reported. The honest caveat is about the future: if most of id’s coders really are gone, upcoming work such as DOOM: The Dark Ages content carries a heightened risk of delays or scope changes, even though nothing of the sort has been announced. There is no buying decision to change yet, but flexible expectations on timing seem wise.
The bigger Xbox restructuring
These cuts sit inside a much larger reshaping of Microsoft’s first-party portfolio. The same internal letter outlines Compulsion Games (We Happy Few, South of Midnight) and Double Fine (Psychonauts, Keeper) ‘going indie’, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs are being sold off entirely, as PCMag Middle East has detailed. Sharma’s letter frames the reductions as ‘shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects’, which follows Xbox’s earlier confirmation of job cuts and studio exits where the company insisted no games were being cancelled.
That insistence still stands on paper. But a studio that has reportedly lost most of its programmers is not the same studio it was, whatever the official line says, and the coming months will show how much of Bethesda’s output survives the maths.
FAQ
Is id Software shutting down?
No closure has been announced. Reports claim the majority of the studio, including most of its coders, has been laid off, but id Software remains open and its games remain available. The figures come from industry sources rather than an official Microsoft disclosure.
Is The Elder Scrolls Online shutting down after the ZeniMax Online layoffs?
No. ESO’s community team says it remains committed to the game, though previously shared roadmaps will be ‘shifting’ while the studio works out an updated schedule. The game is still fully playable in the UAE and elsewhere on Xbox, PlayStation and PC.
Has DOOM: The Dark Ages been cancelled or delayed?
No cancellation or delay has been announced. However, given the scale of reported layoffs at id Software, there is a heightened risk of delays or scope changes to upcoming work, so release timing expectations should stay flexible.
How many jobs is Microsoft cutting across Xbox?
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told staff around 4,800 jobs are being cut across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang and Xbox Game Studios, with investment shifting to what Microsoft calls higher priority projects.
