Bethesda Reducing Workforce, Refocusing on Its Biggest Franchises Amid Xbox Layoffs

Lay offs everywhere, physical media dead, $1,000 consoles, the same ten games on the bestseller list every month.

Gaming is totally fine, guys. Real healthy. Not crashing at all.

The news surrounding Arkane is really disappointing... One of my favourite developers and a talented studio that produces unique and interesting titles unlike anybody else. Dishonored will always be incredible.

Focusing on big established franchises makes sense in the short term I guess but you can't rely on them forever.

The AAA side of this industry is becoming stale in terms of creativity.

So will oblivion remastered get a patch to fix the innumerable issues and game breaking bugs and glitches, or does that game not count among the “biggest franchises” now that they already got everyone’s money?

"ZeniMax's teams will be realigned to focus on the company's biggest franchises, including The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, DOOM, Wolfenstein, and Quake."
"Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, which have not received major new titles for a long time."

OK those 2 I get, but Quake? When the heck was the last Quake game, the Commodore 64? 😂

In feels like we rarely ever get good news.

It sucks. It’s kind of depressing.

I mean, isnt that all they work on anyways? Dont want to come across snarky, im sorry for several that lost work today, im glad Xbox is looking to let studios go as oppossed to shuttering. I wonder why more publishers dont do the same?

Seems like there is a seismic economic collapse in the near future for all of us.

Misery sure loves company on this site.

The crash is coming. Batten down the hatches, it’s getting rougher by the minute.

Quake?? And honestly surprised to see Wolfenstein mentioned.

Big corps buying and crushing is nothing new.
In the words of Lisa Simpson "This is why I can't have nice things" when Homer gives Linguo Beer.

@rjejr Quake Champions was released in 2017. Quake Live in 2010. Quake Remastered was released in 2021 and Quake II Remastered was released in 2023. Where have you been?
This years Quakecon is August 6th to 9th.

@somnambulance If it weren’t for the fact it would lead to a lot of jobs being lost, I would say that the industry needs a reset… but the jobs being lost are gonna happen anyway

Not sure how it’s a refocus when with one exception (Starfield), they have only done those IP for the last couple of decades.

Not to sound crass or insensitive, but, was Bethesda ever not working on their big franchises? That's basically all they do.

Bethesda could close the doors entirely and it wouldn’t be a huge loss to gaming. They haven’t made a good game for nearly 20 years

Please reboot Quake. I would so play that every day. The online back in the day was so addicting for me. Fast paced arena shooters are my thing and they need a big come back. I am not a fan of battle royal shooters.

@Bizzy "Quake Champions was released in 2017. Quake Live in 2010"

2010 or is that a typo? And 2017 is still 9 years ago.

"Quake Remastered was released in 2021 and Quake II Remastered was released in 2023."

I've been not playing remasters of decades old games.

The fact that QuakeCon is still a thing has me thinking you are half making all of this stuff up.😂

Seriously though, thanks for all the dates and games, but that hardly seems like an ongoing endeavor to me when the previous new games were a decade ago and I haven't heard anything about a new new game in like ever.

I'm old. I know Quake. I've played Quake. I might even still own a few Quake games. But if my company is dependent on Quake for survival then it's already dead.😩

@rjejr My point (in response to your Commodore 64 comment) was that 2 Quake games have been released in every decade since it was first created. On top of that Doom has been interspersed between those games.
It would be nice to get a new Unreal Tournament game too. Sadly Fortnite (1 game that released in 2017) put a stop to that.

Bethesda trademarked Starfield in 2013, so we’re looking at the PS6 for the next ES/FO.

@Stragen8 3 of the last 4 recent Wolfenstein games on ps4 are excellent

its crazy they havnt even started making fallout 5 over a decade since fallout 4

@Afroducc Yep even Alan Wake 2's scene switching has nothing on Dishonored 2's Crack in the Slab or Clockwork Mansion. Talented bunch that Arkane Studio.

@CheesyOatcake i couldn’t agree with you more. At first i wasn’t even all that good at it, but i enjoyed it so much. That it taught me to practice and earn my way to getting better, so that is what i did. I played it everyday and got better and better at it and now to this day i think it’s of the games of why i love shooters so much. If i grew up with Fortnite and Apex, i wouldn’t care for it. Those games are so slow and boring to me. I wouldn’t have put in the work.

I surely hope MS and Bethesda reboot Quake like Doom did and have some killer online MP with it. That would make my day to see that news 😊

Well I hope they can finish the starfield roadmap.

@Bizzy Unreal Tournament would be fine, I own it on Dreamcast. (Not a joke 😁.) At least people regularly talk about Unreal b/c of the popularity of the game engine. I'm assuming gamers make the connection but I could be wrong. I own the original Unreal on disc. The PC box was really cool.

The Commodore 64 thing was obviously a joke. I seriously doubt that system, I never owned one, could run Quake. I'm also pretty sure the original Quake game is after that. 😁

If you want to keep talking about it though the very 1st comment on this same article on NL mentions Quake. I thought that was funny and thought of you. 😂

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/07/bethesda-will-reportedly-shift-focus-over-to-its-biggest-franchises

I'm sorry for everyone that lost their jobs.

That said, I am happy that the adults in the room have finally spoken up at Bethesda and directed them to start working on things that, you know, people actually want.

@ThorsHammer The PS headline says "Bethesda", but the source refers to Zenimax, that includes Bethesda (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Starfield), Id (Doom, Quake), Arkane (Redfall, Deathloop), Machine (Wolfenstein, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle) and Zenimax Online (The Elder Scrolls Online). You are right, all of the popular IPs are safe according to Jason Schreier. Indiana Jones is not their property, obviously. The only IPs not mentioned by Jason are Arkane's, the studio that "is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options."

Eventually, Bethesda is a game studio who doesn't make games anymore. So, they have to actually release new games, whether they want to or not. Or, just close the studio. Either way, I don't care what they do. But, the games have to be made and then have to be released.

@Ryu_Niiyama Good Lord no one cares about Starfailed. It's a crap game. Everyone wants the next Elder Scrolls and Fallout 5. But Bethesda doesn't make games anymore so Microsoft gave them a bitch slap today to probably bring the studio (and Todd Coward) back to reality. They are a game studio, MAKE GAMES!

Refocusing, huh? Don't you have focus before refocusing? Since their games are hot buggy messes, seems like they really missed that first step in the process of refocusing.

@Romans12 Like I said; Well I hope they can finish the Starfield roadmap.

You seem very agitated. Deep breaths. Everything will be ok.