The wait for The Elder Scrolls 6 was already testing the patience of even the most devoted Skyrim fans, and now things might get worse. Following the latest round of Xbox layoffs, current and former Bethesda staff have spoken out about what the cuts mean for the studio’s most anticipated project, and the picture they paint is grim. According to the Staff at Bethesda, morale has been “shattered”.
Bethesda Staff Say the Layoffs Hit The Elder Scrolls 6 Directly
According to a new IGN report, more than 50 people were let go from Bethesda Game Studios as part of the wider Microsoft restructuring, and the folks still working on The Elder Scrolls 6 are not happy about it. Speaking anonymously to protect their jobs, several staffers said the loss of these developers will have what they described as a “substantial and cascading effect” on both the game and the studio’s spirit.
It is important to note that these were not filler roles or people on the way out. Staff described those affected as key, high-performing developers spread across every discipline you can think of, from programmers to artists to designers. One person who was reportedly cut had been at the company since the days of Morrowind, which, for anyone keeping track, is going back well over two decades. And that kind of institutional knowledge does not get replaced with a simple job posting.
“This Has Had a Crushing Effect on Morale”
The quote that has been doing the rounds sums up the mood inside the building. “We’ve all been very excited and hyped for TES 6, and this has had a crushing effect on morale,” one staff member told IGN. “We were already running a tight ship and are worried about this delaying the game.”
Since this staff is actually working on the game, admitting that the team is stretched thin and openly nervous about the project slipping. When the people building the thing start talking about delays out loud, you have to think something is not right.
Fears of Cheaper Contractors and a Loss of Proprietary Knowledge
One of the biggest concerns raised has nothing to do with hype and everything to do with how Bethesda actually makes its games. The studio runs on proprietary tools that have been built and refined internally over many years. You cannot just hire someone off the street and expect them to hit the ground running with the Creation Engine and everything wrapped around it.
“There is a fear that we are going to be replaced by cheaper, contracted labor, or we will hire folks to replace them that will need to be onboarded,” one developer explained, pointing out that outside devs simply will not know how the in-house systems work.
The Original Trailer Announcement was 8 Years Ago
The Elder Scrolls 6 was first teased back at E3 in 2018 with that short, now almost mythical logo reveal, and fans have basically had nothing concrete since. Todd Howard himself has more or less told people to pretend the game was never announced, and has admitted it is still “a while” off while stressing the team knows it needs to get it right.
Reports from industry have suggested the game is still years out, and some sources within the studio have floated timelines that push things scarily far down the calendar. One developer even suggested that with the game already sitting at least two years away, these layoffs could realistically shift the release into 2030 territory. Since this is not an official date, and Bethesda has not confirmed anything close to it, the fact that people inside the studio are even saying it tells you where heads are at right now.
Xbox Restructuring Affects Everything
The Bethesda cuts are part of a much larger reduction across Microsoft’s gaming division, with roughly 1,600 roles affected in this wave under new Xbox lead Asha Sharma, who reportedly described Microsoft’s gaming business as not being in a healthy state. Even ZeniMax Online Studios is cutting hundreds and revising its Elder Scrolls Online roadmap, and studios like Arkane are facing sale or closure talk.
Sharma’s strategy is said to lean heavily on Bethesda’s biggest franchises, namely The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, yet the studios most central to those franchises are among the ones taking the biggest hit. Bethesda leadership has framed the cuts as a way to build a more stable foundation and get back to sustainable growth, but the developers actually living through it clearly are not feeling that stability just yet.
So, where does this leave the game? As of writing, nothing has changed. There was never a firm release date to slip in the first place, so technically, Bethesda cannot delay something that was never dated. But that is cold comfort. A project with no date, a shrinking team, and a wave of departing veterans is not exactly a recipe for a speedy finish.
