Xbox has a tendency to garner attention for the wrong reasons, and its latest business decisions haven’t helped its case when it comes to public image. If nothing else, the company’s known for having the financial means to acquire studios, only to hit them with layoffs, leading to many talented developers losing their jobs and getting put in a tough situation.

However, where developers like Hi-Fi Rush’s Tango Gameworks and Redfall’s Arkane Austin suffered from job cuts, there are some Bethesda studios that are in the clear as they continue to work on Microsoft’s gaming division’s high-profile titles.

Xbox Will Continue to Support Bethesda Game Studios After Laying off Other Developers

It remains to be seen whether closing down various studios will actually help Xbox focus its resources on bigger video games.
It remains to be seen whether closing various studios will actually help Xbox focus its resources on bigger video games.

Matt Booty, the corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios, notified the company’s employees about their demise through an email in which he detailed how the restructuring would work and the reasons behind making such a drastic business decision.

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After explaining the effects that will hit four different studios, with three of them closing down and one getting relocated to another, Booty called Bethesda Softworks “one of the key pillars” of the company’s gaming division, acknowledging that the publisher has been responsible for great gaming experiences in the past.

The studios that were lucky enough to survive the recent layoff spree are still working on more content for their respective video games, as the executive listed down what the lineup looks like for later this year.

Bethesda Game Studios is currently working on the massive DLC called Shattered Space that is supposed to change the fate of the developer’s space RPG, along with launching the Skyline Valley update for Fallout 76.

Considering that those are two of the biggest titles that Xbox has, it would not have made much sense to close the studio behind them. But although Hi-Fi Rush became quite big too, that did not stop Tango Gameworks from getting shut down.

Arkane Lyon, MachineGames, ZeniMax Online, and id Also Survived the Layoffs

Potentially "high-impact" titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will receive all the support they require from the parent company.
Potentially “high-impact” titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will receive all the support they require from the parent company.

There are four other studios that will remain unaffected amid the company’s drastic job cuts, which include Arkane Lyon, who is currently working on Marvel’s Blade, and MachineGames, which looks like it may actually do the Indiana Jones IP justice with the Great Circle.

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ZeniMax Online Studios will also keep going, as it is developing the new Golden Road update for The Elder Scrolls Online. However, it will now have more hands on deck due to the Roundhouse Studios team getting relocated to the developer.

Additionally, despite not having much to release in 2024, Doom developer id Software has survived the layoffs as well.

Matt Booty claims that this business decision will make these studios “well-positioned to build new IP, explore new game concepts, and expand on” the existing franchises, and that might very well happen in the future. But right now, it feels like one of the lower points of the video game industry.

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