Bethesda announced that its development roadmap for The Elder Scrolls 6 remains unchanged despite recent layoffs across Xbox-owned studios. About half of the 3,200 planned layoffs have already occurred, including 440 employees from Bethesda and sister studio ZeniMax Online [1, 2, 3].
Within Bethesda Game Studios, around 50 staff—including some key developers—were let go as part of the reductions [1, 3]. Several current Bethesda employees have claimed the layoffs will cause a "substantial and cascading effect" on The Elder Scrolls 6's progress, though Bethesda officially said the roadmap has not been affected [1, 3]. The studio told YouTuber MrMattyPlays, "The roadmap [for TES6] is unaffected" [1].
ZeniMax Online announced it would alter previously published roadmaps for The Elder Scrolls Online, reflecting the impact of layoffs there [1, 3]. Bethesda also emphasized it has not forgotten Oblivion Remastered, which is being optimized for the upcoming Switch 2 console launch; the studio hopes these improvements will extend to console and PC versions as well [1, 2, 3].
In a recent multi-title announcement, Bethesda revealed multiple Fallout projects in development. These include Fallout 5 entering pre-production, remasters of Fallout 3 and New Vegas, and a new Fallout game by Obsidian [1, 2, 3]. Bethesda explained it released this comprehensive roadmap to clearly communicate with fans, not due to any pressure from Xbox leadership. The studio said, "Look, we read the internet too... We felt it was best to do it all at once and paint a clear picture for everyone" [3].
The layoffs were announced in early July 2026, affecting multiple Xbox-owned studios including Bethesda and ZeniMax Online [1, 2, 3]. On July 22, Bethesda clarified the layoffs’ impact on TES6 and Oblivion Remastered in a video with MrMattyPlays [1, 2, 3].
Bethesda’s next steps remain focused on advancing The Elder Scrolls 6 development according to its roadmap, and working on optimizations for Oblivion Remastered ahead of the Switch 2 launch.
