Another Elder Scrolls game is in jeopardy as Xbox layoffs hit heads of major studio

Jul 16, 2026 - 16:16

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Another Elder Scrolls game is in jeopardy as Xbox layoffs hit heads of major studio

Published Jul 16, 2026, 6:38 AM EDT

More than 200 jobs have been cut

Earlier this month, Xbox outlined plans to lay off over 3,200 staff throughout this fiscal year, in what it called "the most significant restructure" in the company's history. Today, as originally reported by Game File, we've learned that over 200 of those layoffs are happening at ZeniMax Online Studios, the team responsible for The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO).

These layoffs include several senior positions, including the studio head, the studio directors across the operations, game, and audio divisions, the art manager, and the vice president and controller. You can read the full list of impacted roles here.

For Elder Scrolls Online specifically, studio head Joe Burba (who only took the role in July 2025), executive producer Susan Kath, game director Rich Lambert, and production director Ala Diaz are the most notable. The four notified staff at the studio of the plan to transition to a new leadership team over the next few months, which will consist of promoted employees from within. The studio will now be co-run by Josh Henderson, who was previously the head of business operations, and Nick Giacomini, who has been the ESO game director since August 2025.

The Elder Scrolls Online is widely considered to be one of the most popular MMOs today, so while these layoffs are concerning, there's no reason to assume just yet that this is the beginning of the end. The game still has a healthy roadmap full of content through to the end of the year, and MMOs surviving leadership changes and layoffs is nothing new. EverQuest, The Lord of the Rings Online, and EVE Online are three examples. Community manager Kevin Gbolie reassured fans that "the plan is still to deliver great content, and we will hopefully have an update soon." However, it's also worth mentioning that ZeniMax Online was also hit by layoffs in 2025, and as a result the studio's workforce has shrunk by approximately 40% compared to 2024.

Game File also reports that alongside the 200+ layoffs at ZeniMax Online Studios, ZeniMax Media Inc. (the publisher for Bethesda Game Studios, including the Fallout and main Elder Scrolls series) saw a significant number of cuts too.