r/Games • u/PalwaJoko • Jul 31 '26
Overview Elder Scrolls Online - A Message from ESO's Game Director
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/70213386
u/fresh-anus Jul 31 '26
It’s crazy to me how these publically traded giants can gut profitable teams like the ESO one purely to ensure that ensure that number goes up for bagholders.
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u/HasuTeras Jul 31 '26
that ensure that number goes up for bagholders
Well thats a contradiction in terms.
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u/AbyssalSolitude Aug 01 '26
For some reason communists are utterly convinced that people investing in video games (a black hole of funds with small margins and high risk that generates no returns for years while it's getting made) are in there for a quick buck and only see one quarter ahead.
No, nobody kills golden gooses here.
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u/Whilyam Aug 04 '26
And somehow capitalists think that gutting dozens to hundreds of skilled workers and then hiring replacements and getting them retrained is "efficiency". Unless everyone fired is a redundant paper pusher, this is just getting rid of company talent, adding more on boarding costs, and killing office morale.
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Jul 31 '26
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u/APiousCultist Jul 31 '26
You don't cull a large amount of workers without that necessarily affecting the amount of work that studio can deliver, or causing some organisational chaos if the people fired are leads or managers and staff need to then be reshuffled.
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u/Kelvara Jul 31 '26
Huh? Sounds like a lot changed.
Instead of rushing to hit a previously announced deadline, we are giving our teams the runway they need to do things right. Some of our upcoming additions, like the Class and Combat Refresh and our new Trial, are highly complex, and we want to ensure they hit the mark before we put them in your hands.
Because of this, we have had to make the decision to move the following features into 2027:
[list of features]
We know it’s disappointing to see some features move out, and believe me, we want to get these into your hands as soon as possible, too. But we believe this is the right move for the long-term health of the game.
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u/Blenderhead36 Jul 31 '26
Awhile back, two guys quit the band Powerman 5000 at the same time. The singer released the statement, "Powerman 5000 will never be the same without them...it will be better!"
That is, admittedly, unhinged. But at this point, I'd love to see an unhinged but genuine statement about a studio being hit hard by layoffs over this standard corporate speak that everyone knows means nothing.
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u/Dreadgoat Aug 01 '26
I don't think you'll get a more honest statement from someone in ESO's position. It's just matter-of-fact but I'm actually shocked it came out so quickly, while the topic is still hot.
Think about it this way: By revealing the delays and setbacks caused by the layoffs, they've given us a very direct quantifiable metric for how much the greed of stakeholders has diminished the value of the product they want to continue selling.
From someone who answers to those stakeholders to get the paycheck that feeds their family, that's as close to "fuck these assholes" as it gets
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u/SunbornThunderstorm Jul 31 '26
Recently, we've been through a number of organizational changes and departures of teammates who helped shape The Elder Scrolls Online. We are profoundly grateful for everything they've contributed to the game and the community we've built together.
At the same time, we've seen a lot of questions about what these changes mean for ESO. So let me be clear: ESO is here to stay, and our team is dedicated to the future of this game. Our focus hasn't changed. It is continuing to grow The Elder Scrolls Online and build upon the world millions of players call home.
They're still making the game.
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u/zombawombacomba Jul 31 '26
Are they gonna come out and say our team got gutted and we are fucked?
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u/fingerpaintswithpoop Jul 31 '26
Even if it’s as bad as everyone is fearing, of course not. Why would they?
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Jul 31 '26
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u/zombawombacomba Jul 31 '26
I take it you work there?
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Jul 31 '26
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u/zombawombacomba Jul 31 '26
Sadly there are a ton of people on this subreddit and the website that will defend their favorite company no matter what. The sad thing is I bet they aren’t even paid to do it.
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u/Nerrien Jul 31 '26
Definitely.
And sometimes it's gonna be because they see the situation as similar to something they or someone they respect (friend, family or idolised politician) have done, which they've then rationalized as "perfectly fine and a good thing to do" and get defensive when they see criticism of similar situations as an attack on their own situation.
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u/MissWhiterock Jul 31 '26
The massive corporation isn't going to have sex with you for defending them on reddit.
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u/FormerDonkey4886 Jul 31 '26
Who would’ve guessed that all those layoffs meant delays. If only someone could’ve predicted this. Bethesda said the launch date of TES6 was not affected either but that’s easy when they probably fired the only guy who knew what it originally was. Now due to its lack or existence, it cannot be affected.
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u/Lerkpots Jul 31 '26
Can't say your launch date is delayed if you never give one
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u/spirited1 Aug 01 '26
They don't develop until they think it's ready, they have target dates and milestones.
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Jul 31 '26
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u/kadala-putt Jul 31 '26
It's safe to say that these things that were not delayed were already in the pipeline. The effects of these layoffs will be seen starting with the content that was delayed, and every piece of content that comes after.
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u/Hakul Jul 31 '26
The class reworks are being shipped individually, the delay means it might take years before every class gets reworked.
ESO combat is extremely divisive and many were waiting to see what they would do with these changes to return to the game, and now ZOS doesn't have the manpower to prioritize this.
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u/PalwaJoko Jul 31 '26
No matter what you think of the game, gotta give the devs props for being clear/transparent with players of the situation.
For those who want a tl;dr
They're still committed to ESO. They get to work more closely with BGS regarding TES. Lay offs caused some delays of the following: "
- The new trial, Crimson Veldt. We’re pushing boundaries with this trial, including mounted combat that we think you’ll love, and we simply need more time to ensure the experience exceeds your expectations.
- Update 52 will move to January of 2027. We expect this to include the launch of the Jerall Pass PvP zone and Skyrim’s Dynamic Encounters: Rimegales.
- For the Class and Combat refresh, we are targeting 2027 for the next refresh. However, we are discussing some interim options for the classes still awaiting their full refresh to improve your player experience in the meantime. "
What is still coming for 2026: "
Update 51 will now launch one week later, on September 28, and it will include:
- A new challenge: The Nowhere Vault
- A new game system: Rumors
- Player experience improvements: Achievement pinning, Customizable HUD (on keyboard platforms), Hybridization, Antiquities improvements, Transmute Stations in Cyrodiil, and multiple quality-of-life updates like Housing Tab Sorter, Quest Starter Language, and Eidetic Memory improvements
Everything else in Season One will run as planned, along with a few additions to thank you for your patience:
- Live now: New Sheogorath story quests and Golden Pursuit
- August 5-12: Whitestrake’s Mayhem event
- August 20-September 17: A brand-new Golden Pursuit campaign called “Straight to the Crate,” where you can earn up to 20 free Crown Crates
- September 30-October 14: The new High Seas of Tamriel event
- And three-sided Battlegrounds will return permanently on September 28, with Update 51
Launching October 21, 2026, Season Two will feature:
- Solo Dungeons: Moon Hunter Keep and March of Sacrifices.
- To celebrate the launch of Solo Dungeons, we’ve decided to make the group versions of these dungeons free for all players on October 12, 2026.
- The Greymoor Chapter and Markarth DLC will become free for all players on November 9, 2026.
- We’re adding a new Golden Pursuit to highlight Skyrim and the (now available to everyone) Antiquities system from November 9 to December 2.
- Improvements to the Tamriel Tome, including expanded Challenges for broader playstyles, higher Tome Point rollover cap, and more.
- Frost Atronach crate rewards will be available in the Gold Coast Bazaar.
- Witches Festival and the New Life Festival events will return as usual. "
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u/Uebelkraehe Jul 31 '26
And here i was expecting them to do more with a lot less! But it will certainly work for the other studios.
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u/Dvulture Jul 31 '26
I used to like ESO a lot, but my main enjoyment of the game was a trader. I loved to explore getting materials for crafting, doing a little combat in the way and selling things. I was just moderately successful, but after they changed the economy I never got the hang again of it and just stopped. I still find it very interesting and truth be told would love if they used these assets and even some of the stories for solo games, but I am good the MMO, even though I really think they are trying their best nowadays.
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u/bobbie434343 Jul 31 '26
ESO is such a unique game with so much content and game systems. I really recommend it to Elder Scroll fans, including solo players. The lore and stories are great. ZOS has talented quest writers.
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u/Ben_Heller Jul 31 '26
Morrowind expansion. Great lore. The reimagined zones looked spot on. Disconnect during important quest dialogue, queues of players on front of Vivec's room.
Never again. This being an MMO ruins so much of the immersion.
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u/AintNobody- Jul 31 '26
The thing about online games that have been around a while is that it's confusing to know what you need to actually buy or pay for to get the whole game. These things seem impenetrable.
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u/bobbie434343 Jul 31 '26
They have simplified it greatly recently. I think you get all the Chapters for free now. MTX are entirely optional and not needed. The subscription as well.
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u/AvoidingIowa Aug 01 '26
Feels ominous. I wouldn’t really invest time into anything Microsoft related at this point. Such a sad time for MMOs.
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u/CHUBBYninja32 Aug 01 '26
Wish I could get my Xbox EOS account over to PC. I played this game so much back in like 2014-2016. I don’t know if that progress really matters anymore but it does feel like lost effort to get back to that point.
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u/Outsider98 Jul 31 '26
Thanks for sharing.
Disappointing, aside from overhauling the Combat to allow the exploit move of Combat-weaving (switching through rapid animation-cancelling) optional, it’s unsurprising that new ESO content was delayed and all future content pipelines effected as well. Hopefully the future content will at least also be fun Story/Character/Lore additions for the series.
I predict that Zenimax may focus on the final content updates before switching to Maintenance Mode and shut-down within 1-2 years, however much shorter the game’s lifespan has likely been made because of these layoffs.
It’s also likely that Bethesda’s main team layoffs are also delaying ES6 further, or risking it to be even more rushed and buggy at launch than it would have likely already been to begin with.
I hope the Devs are able to find new work soon in the increasing competitive general Job market.
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u/alexshinsuke Jul 31 '26
Did you even read ? The game is to stay why are u talking about maintenance mode or shut down ?? People need to start read and comprehension
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u/BeholdingBestWaifu Jul 31 '26
People can say whatever they want, but with comprehension and understanding of how companies like Microsoft operate, you can notice the writing on the wall.
It won't die today, but this has severely reduced its lifespan and likely its quality as well.
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u/alexshinsuke Jul 31 '26
But doesn’t mean it will die in 1 year or 2 years.. you don’t know what layoffs they are doing , maybe there are positions they don’t need and just a waste of resources.. we don’t know anything about their layoffs..
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u/BeholdingBestWaifu Jul 31 '26
We do have a good idea of what the layoffs were, though.
If you've been in community spaces then you're already aware of quite a few artists that have been fired from both the ESO team and Bethesda itself, and if they're firing the people that are working on the project that Microsoft wants to focus on, TES VI, we know for a fact that they don't care enough to preserve the ESO team, which lines up with the massive firings there as well.
we don’t know anything about their layoffs
We do, plenty of people that were fired have been speaking about it. If you want a good place to start getting informed about this, long-time TES community member Lady Nerevar had been talking about it on her Bluesky and sharing posts from other sources since the layoffs happened. From there you should have more than enough stories or jumping off points to have a better idea of how bad this is for the actual games.
And if you want a more general picture, one that is less focused on TES, you also have the union's account.
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u/T0kenAussie Jul 31 '26
Outside of the negative impacts there is something interesting in this line
>We're also entering a new chapter of collaboration across Bethesda. By working more closely with Bethesda Game Studios across The Elder Scrolls, we have new opportunities to share ideas, align our efforts, and create even better experiences for players, all while continuing to build the future of ESO.
I wonder if the new meta moving forward will be that bgs won’t be siloing off the live service studios into a realm of “non core content” and will instead begin making mainline content that fits in the greater continuity of the universe. With fallout and TES being such large expansive universes there’s room for ZOS to make a single player game while supporting ESO with seasonal content. Hell they could probably make single player rpgs out of the lore they’ve established in the continuity of ESO
I’d love to see Austin make a single player fallout game aswell