Bethesda's Head Informs Employees on the Need to Focus on 'Our Strongest Franchises' as Xbox Layoffs Hit Hard

Jill Braf, the head of Bethesda, informed the company's employees about the need to focus on "its strongest franchises" in the future, following a wave of layoffs hitting Xbox. Microsoft announced today that it would lay off 3,200 employees from Xbox during the current fiscal year, including 1,600 employees on July 6, in what Xbox CEO Asha Sharma described as the largest restructuring in the brand's history, confirming that the gaming sector at Microsoft "is not healthy." Overall, Xbox is expected to lose about one-fifth of its workforce as part of Sharma's plan to restructure the company. Information obtained by IGN indicates that Bethesda is among the most affected departments, with employees in several of its development studios being informed of their termination, while others face an unclear future. In an internal message sent to employees after Sharma's memo, Jill Braf stated that layoffs and strategic changes "reflect the reality of the industry and business conditions, and our responsibility to ensure that Bethesda operates on more stable grounds." She added, "In order to succeed in the future, we need to change course, we must strengthen our business, return to sustainable growth, and ensure that we can continue investing in our franchises and players; I know that doesn't make today any easier." Braf clarified that the changes are not limited to reducing jobs in studios like id Software and ZeniMax Online Studios, but also include a radical shift in how the company manages its projects. She said, "To ensure the best positioning for Bethesda to achieve growth in the future, we will transition from a planning model that primarily focuses on the next project for each independent studio to a model that focuses on our strongest franchises, and develop a content roadmap that serves our players and Bethesda as a whole in the best way possible." She added, "After that, we will work on hiring the right talents, technologies, and resources across the organization to achieve these priorities."