A round of layoffs hit ZeniMax Online Studios today, and there is an official
statement about this
on Joystiq saying this involved customer service representatives hired to
support the launch of
The Elder Scrolls Online who are no longer needed
now that things are running smoothly.
Polygon also heard from ZeniMax and paraphrases them as saying this
also involved cuts in the area of "development" but that the team size has simply
returned to pre-launch levels. This is not actually the case according to
one of the developers who was fired, who shared details about the situation with
us under the condition of anonymity (though we have confirmed his authenticity). Our
source explains that approximately 20 of those cut today were not contractors or
people hired temporarily to launch the game, but full-time developers who had
expectations of continuing indefinitely. Most if not all of them have been
working on The Elder Scrolls Online for at least two years, and were actively
involved in developing expansion content and fixing bugs. The idea that
customer service calls have slowed is disputed as well, and the conclusion he
draws is that the game is not earning its keep, and that as some players are
dropping their subscriptions ZeniMax is cutting staff to get costs under
control. We have not yet heard back from ZeniMax after asking them to comment on
this, and will follow up if they respond.