Bethesda Confirms Layoffs at Zenimax Online Studios

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Bethesda Confirms Layoffs at Zenimax Online Studios

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Bethesda has confirmed that there have been layoffs at Elder Scrolls Online developer, Zenimax Online Studios.

In a statement obtained by Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-12-18-elder-scrolls-online-irish-customer-service-office-closed-and-300-jobs-lost-report], the developer said that layoffs at Elder Scrolls Online developer Zenimax Online Studios' Irish customer service office in Galway, which affected approximately 50 people in mid-August, was "normal practice."

"Following the successful console launch of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited in June, we have a thriving console and PC online community," said the developer. "We adjusted customer support levels in mid-August by reducing staffing by approximately 50 people to reflect the game's stability and the needs of our players. This is a normal practice. We have been diligently working with the IDA, and the employees affected by this decision since the summer."

Reports of the layoffs surfaced on Connacht Tribune [http://connachttribune.ie/games-over-for-software-giants-as-galway-loses-300-jobs-741/], which originally reported that 300 jobs had been lost.

Bethesda stated that it is "disappointed by the inaccuracies in the report of the Connacht Tribune."

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[Elfgore]

I'm always surprised that people still want to work for the game's industry, even in a customer service job. Low job security, terrible hours, and terrible working conditions. I guess when you have enough starry eyed youngsters ready to make their own game or even to help on the business side, you just start viewing them as disposable.

Anyway, nothing sucks more than losing your job a few months before the Holidays. Hopefully, those laid off can easily find new jobs.

 

[TwoSidesOneCoin]

"We adjusted customer support levels in mid-August by reducing staffing by approximately 50 people to reflect the game's stability and the needs of our players. This is a normal practice. We have been diligently working with the IDA, and the employees affected by this decision since the summer."

Peeling apart the silver tongue speech, it breaks down as such:

"We fired a bunch of customer support personnel because our game population has gone down to the point where we don't need those employees anymore. We wanted to save money. We've been in contact with IDA to make sure that these former employees have cleared out their desks and vacated the premises."

 

[King_Julian]

ah yea sure just sack the irish why dont ya...........doesnt matter.....few pints wil sort it out

 

[NLS]

I'm always surprised that people still want to work for the game's industry, even in a customer service job. Low job security, terrible hours, and terrible working conditions. I guess when you have enough starry eyed youngsters ready to make their own game or even to help on the business side, you just start viewing them as disposable.

Anyway, nothing sucks more than losing your job a few months before the Holidays. Hopefully, those laid off can easily find new jobs.

It's a possibility that some of the people laid off will start their own studio, and go to crowd funding for any potential ideas they have for a project. It's been happening for some time now.

But yeah I agree it sucks to lose your job in first place. I hope everyone affected will find employment soon. The video game industry really isn't a stable place for working it seems.

Not to bash down on people working in support, buuuut... Starting their own studio? Doing what, supporting a game of support?
These guys never "worked" at Bethesdas studio, they're just contracted people who've been given the bare minimum of training on how to provide technical customer support for ESO. They're not involved in the development of the game in any way.
Hopefully they'll be offered other customer support jobs in Ireland, seeing as it's quite a haven for providing cheap support personnel with low to minimal tax to an international audience. Hell, even I was once offered to relocate and start working as customer support for IBM's Dublin support center. I had no education and minimal work experience. After reading up on some personal experiences with the working conditions and basic rights, I figured I'd be better off finding worse paid work in my own country.

 

[Remus]

These aren't devs they're laying off. They're CS reps for their European branch. No need to shit the bed over 50 people out of the job.

 

[Lightknight]

I'm always surprised that people still want to work for the game's industry, even in a customer service job. Low job security, terrible hours, and terrible working conditions. I guess when you have enough starry eyed youngsters ready to make their own game or even to help on the business side, you just start viewing them as disposable.

Anyway, nothing sucks more than losing your job a few months before the Holidays. Hopefully, those laid off can easily find new jobs.

Imagine you signed up for support for a game like WoW. You'd have had a pretty decent job for more than a decade. MMOs are a pretty good job to get if you're going to work customer support in gaming. Other companies will have a support department that covers a variety of games rather than just one so as long as the company survives, so does your job. Number of hours and pay depends on which company you work for. Some are definitely better than others.

Even with ESO laying 50 people off, the game has already been out for about a year and a half. That gave people some pay and some experience with a major company. That's not to speak of all the employees that weren't laid off and could be sticking around for who knows how much longer.