The bad news at Microsoft"s gaming division continues to make waves on the internet. Today, Bloomberg is reporting, via unnamed sources, that it is requesting a number of current ZeniMax team members, including producers and QA testers, to make voluntary severance deals. This follows Tuesday"s shutting of three now former Bethesda-ZeniMax game development studios, along with merging another team into ZeniMax Online Studios.
Bloomberg"s report did not specify how many ZeniMax team members have taken those severance deals. Microsoft did not comment on Bloomberg"s report. The company has still has not revealed how many team members lost their jobs on Tuesday.
Bloomberg also reported that before their shutdowns, Tango Gameworks was pitching a sequel to their critically acclaimed action game Hi-Fi Rush. It also stated Arkane Austin was trying to pitch a new single-player immersive sim game to Microsoft, after releasing Redfall in 2023.
Microsoft gaming executives tried to justify the new layoffs and studio closing in a town hall meeting with ZeniMax employees, according to Bloomberg, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty reportedly stated in the meeting that the ZeniMax division, with its previous nine studios, was spread as thin as "peanut butter on bread” and that Microsoft felt it was time to shut down some of the studios so the resources could be better used.
Jill Braff, who is the current head of Microsoft"s ZeniMax division, reportedly stated in the town hall meeting it was "hard to support nine studios all across the world with a lean central team with an ever-growing plate of things to do." She reportedly added, "I think we were about to topple over."
Microsoft is also reportedly thinking about other measures to boost its gaming revenues, That includes ideas like raising prices for the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate service and possibly offering more games, such as the upcoming Senua"s Saga: Hellblade II, to Sony"s PlayStation 5 console.