Official Fallout 5 Reveal Lands Bethesda In Legal Trouble

Published Jul 24, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC. There's no doubt that the Fallout franchise is in a really weird spot right now, where it's simultaneously about as popular as it has ever been, all without the arrival of a new game to boost numbers. That said, there are plenty of projects on the way, as developer Bethesda confirmed in a lengthy post on social media. Within it, they revealed that there are remasters for both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas on the way, as well as more content coming for other franchises (all while The Elder Scrolls VI is still cooking away in the background). As exciting as those announcements were, new allegations have now emerged that suggest they may have been using the interest they generated to run cover for a potential bad news cycle. As first reported by TweakTown, Bethesda Game Studios has seen a legal complaint filed against them by the union that represents many of their employees, OneBGS. The filing contends that developers at the company were served notice that their employment was being terminated by the company, on the same day that Xbox and Bethesda announced their myriad projects. The union therefore alleges that the positive announcement was used as a smokescreen to distract from the layoffs, and lessen the chance of negative reporting from media outlets. Those layoffs came as part of the wider announcement that Microsoft's workforce would be cut back by 3200 people. Over on BlueSky, the union shared a statement about why they had taken the action: "Last Friday, Xbox flooded news sites announcing every expansion, sequel, and remake they could. That same day, they told their laid-off Bethesda Montreal employees that they would receive the small severance legally possible without bargaining with the union. "Previously, on Monday July 6, dozens of employees from Bethesda Game Studios across the US and Canada were told via video call that they were being laid off. They were told they would remain employed until September while the company negotiated severance with our union; this at least provided some solace and breathing room. "However, at the end of the day on Friday July 17, the affected Canadian employees (part of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls teams) received termination letters via email. This was contrary to what they had been told in the Monday calls. These letters stated that the Canadians are set to receive the bare legal minimum in terms of severance: eight weeks of pay in lieu of the minimum legal notice, any outstanding vacation pay etc. They were to also immediately lose their group benefits health insurance." They then went on to say that they're "not going to take this lying down," in what could easily become a protracted battle for an already beleaguered Bethesda. There's no doubt at this point that it really feels like Bethesda is in need of a win, if only to improve the mood around everything they have going on right now. After all, there are plenty of exciting projects coming down the pipeline, but the scale of the wait their fans have had to endure really doesn't bear thinking about. At the very least, we can hope that the next Fallout release, whichever one that happens to be, lives up to expectations. TV Show(s) Fallout Video Game(s) Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, Fallout 5, Fallout 76 First TV Show Fallout Cast Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Kyle MacLachlan, Moises Arias, Xelia Mendes-Jones, Walton Goggins Created by Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky First Episode Air Date April 10, 2024