Report: The Aftermath Of Xbox's Layoffs Across ZeniMax

Alyssa Gobelle has been with ZeniMax Online Studios for fourteen years. Now, she’s waiting to lose her job. While she is one of the 1,600 workers across Xbox-owned studios who lost their jobs last month, she is a member of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the union that game workers often turn to in the US when they organise their workplaces. That means that Xbox couldn’t get rid of her and her comrades immediately. “I've been through tons of layoffs,” Gobelle tells me over a Zoom call, proudly repping the CWA on her shirt. “I have a particular love of journalism because my first job was at CNN.com back in the '90s, and those non-union layoffs were my first when we merged with Time Warner at the time, and they were brutal. They were instantaneous. We had no recourse. All we could do is, if we wanted money, we had to sign a document that kept us from disparagement.” Gobelle has 20 years of experience in her field and tells me she’s never lost a job any other way but layoffs. In the 2000s, they would trigger at the end of a major project. Sometimes, workers were sent into one of two rooms - one room was for those getting laid off, the other was for those who were safe. They didn’t know which room was which until they got there. “Every time, we muttered, we talked,” Gobelle recalls. “We were like, ‘Man, if only we had protections’ or something where we could do recourse and not just have a sad party at a bar, and then all go our separate ways and hope that we landed somewhere.” Now, Gobelle is going through her latest layoff as a union member. “We have recourse to make sure that everyone leaves in a humane and financially stable manner,” she tells me. “[They] make sure that we get the best deal possible for the workers, and make sure that these layoffs were fair, that they really were doing as they said and just eliminating the jobs and not just sending them out willy-nilly to outsourcing and non-union work.” But that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. Gobelle admits there were layoffs before ZeniMax became part of Xbox, but that was rare. She describes a workplace that valued longtime employees, and allowed devs to consider this their “last stop” in the industry. Now, she’s waiting until she is officially off the ZeniMax payroll - and she isn’t even sure if being so severely affected by this wave of layoffs will make ZeniMax immune from the next. ZeniMax Is Different Under Xbox, And Long-Time Employees Are Being Pushed Aside Photo credit: CWA Elsewhere under the ZeniMax umbrella, Annie Barrett has been with Bethesda Game Studios for almost seven years. “There had never been anything like this,” Barrett tells me, recalling the pre-Xbox days. “When we were acquired by Microsoft and Xbox, we saw studio closures in the ZeniMax Family companies, and now we're seeing layoffs at BGS. It's definitely been very different.” While Barrett has lost her job, she remains the elected representative for the unionised BGS workers. “I’m hearing from people that the morale is very low, the mood is dark,” she shares. “We recently read statements to the company about how this has impacted employees. How are they going to do their jobs when the axe is hanging over their head?” That refers to the additional 1,600 layoffs that will hit Xbox-owned studios later this year. Shockingly, both Barrett and Gobelle believe that anyone could be hit by the next round, even companies that just suffered through this round. “I hear rumours and then something conflicting,” Barrett tells me. “We really don't know. It seems to be up to Xbox. They're the ones that do these layoffs. They are the people who can choose not to affect our company, which they've already devastated.” Gobelle agrees, and worries for those left behind. “Even if they told us that we were safe, I don't trust them to stick to that statement,” she says. “Anything can happen in the next six months, and they can back out of that. “Everybody left behind, I'm sure, is feeling that anxiety, and they're going to have to feel it much longer than two weeks,” she continues. “It's not good for anyone's health. It can literally cause ulcers and other nervous system problems, and it's just not going to be good for the mind. You won't be able to do your best. “I think of Edgar Allan Poe's story, The Pit and the Pendulum, where you're lying there, staring up at this pendulum that is constantly swinging back and forth, and then every now and again it drops a little bit further down. You're just waiting for it to reach you. And to sit there and stare and wait is tantamount to torture psychologically.” Being Left To Wait - And Read The Leaks Online These layoffs differed from how we’ve seen previous ones rolled out. In the days leading up to the announcement, there were several conflicting reports about who would be affected, and to what degree. Several trustworthy sources would say a studio is being shut down, and then another would say it isn’t. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it sounds just as chaotic behind the scenes. Barrett tells me there was “no indication” of how much Bethesda Game Studios would be hit, and which areas would be targeted. Ultimately, we saw many writers and quest designers for Fallout 76 laid off. As for Gobelle at ZeniMax Online Studios, she recalls the weeks-long anxiety the team suffered through. “Everyone was trying to do their jobs and trying to be creative and trying to make sure that we're pushing towards our next big launch, which of course happened a couple days after the layoffs,” she says, referring to ESO Season One: Return of the Thieves Guild. “These were projects that we put our heart into, and we were dedicated to seeing them out the door" - Annie Barrett She also confirms that the teams were left in limbo over the Independence Day weekend, taking holidays without knowing whether they would return to a job. With that said, she appreciates that Xbox didn’t opt for blind layoffs, which she feels are much worse. “I'm glad I got the warning this time,” she shares. “We could take the hint. We could brush up on a resume, put our affairs in order, make sure that our prescriptions were all together, make sure that we have everything healthcare-wise.” As The Devs Lose Their Jobs, Xbox Announces More Games Another way these layoffs differed from what we’ve seen before is that Xbox was eager to stress that no announced games have been cancelled. In fact, with Bethesda, we saw multiple games announced after the layoffs, although these would all have been in the works long before the job cuts hit. Barrett isn’t certain that Xbox can maintain this idea that the layoffs won’t impact these titles. “These were projects that we put our heart into, and we were dedicated to seeing them out the door,” she tells me. “I know for people who were impacted, some of these are really critical people. The reality for us doesn't seem to match up with what the company narrative is.” They also fear that those who lost their jobs this time won’t be able to find work elsewhere, or form their own studios as easily as they would have in the past. "Putting out creative, amazing games doesn't happen under the threat of layoffs." - Annie Barrett “It's hard to predict because I've seen two different cycles,” says Gobelle. “I've seen the cycle where a big company chomps on little companies, absorbs them, then fires them all. They go out, and then they all found little studios and new indies crop up and get big again.” However, she feels that the current state of the industry makes this unlikely. “I don't know if that's going to be happening again this time because, from what I hear, venture capitalism and financial support are not really available,” she tells me. “I have confidence that the creativity is still out there and that the people that leave will start to do creative things. Whether that translates into actual games, I'm not sure. “I'm seeing some studios from our layoffs last year already started to sprout up, and I'm rooting for them, and I think it's going to be great, but I don't know if we're going to get the same volume.” We’ve already seen Double Fine make layoffs after being spun off from Xbox. While any studio let go was allowed to keep its workers and IP, they have been sent off into an industry that isn’t willing to invest. Even Romero Games, headed by an industry titan, struggled after it lost its own Xbox funding last year. What Gamers Can Do To Help Ultimately, everyone affected by these layoffs is passionate about games. “The devs are players too,” Barrett explains. “We want to see great games get made, and we want to put the best work out there. And it's really hard to do that, frankly, when we are worried about being able to afford rent, worried about if that axe is going to come down for you. Putting out creative, amazing games doesn't happen under the threat of layoffs.” As it stands, the unions are continuing to fight on behalf of those who lost their jobs, and ensure they leave with the best deals possible. In the meantime, Barrett makes it clear that they do not want a consumer boycott on the basis of these layoffs, but does encourage the gaming community to be aware of what is happening. “Making your voice heard to Xbox and to these large game companies is really helpful,” Barrett says. “It does make a difference.” Xbox has been contacted for comment.