Unfortunately, it looks like 2024 isn’t finished with its wave of mass layoffs, as Microsoft has decided to close down several of Bethesda’s studios. These studios include Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, as well as several smaller studios being closed down or absorbed into others.
One such smaller studios affected by these layoffs was Mighty Doom developer Alpha Dog Studios, which was closed. Roundhouse Games, while not being closed down, has been merged with ZeniMax Online Studios, known for the development of Elder Scrolls Online. As of writing, Microsoft has not shared the number of workers who have just lost their livelihoods, and it is also unclear what will happen with the projects that were in development at these studios.
Due to the closure of Arkane Austin, it does unfortunately confirm that Redfall will no longer have any of the promised content that was supposed to be added with the Bite Back Edition of the game and its accompanying DLC. Microsoft has confirmed that despite the game performing incredibly poorly, the game would still remain online, and it would also provide a “make-good” offer for players who had purchased the game’s anticipated Hero DLC.
As for the studios that survived the cut, Bethesda Game Studios, who is responsible for the mainline Elder Scrolls titles, Fallout games and Starfield has been unaffected by the cuts. Arkane Lyon, who is developing Marvel’s Blade has also not been affected, as well as Machine Games, who is working on Indiana Jones and The Great Circle.
With the number of layoffs sweeping across the gaming industry, only time will tell what will be left at the end. Unfortunately, it also seems as though more are on the way, and its starting to look like the mother of all shake ups for gaming as a whole. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel, but until then, we’ll have to wait and see where the axe falls, and what paradigm shift will take place for game development and everything that comes with it.
