Matt Firor, boss of The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios, has stepped down amid the cancellation of the studio’s unannounced MMO.
Sources close to the challenge informed IGN that this MMO was a model new IP unrelated to each Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, and that it had a sizeable workforce behind it. This workforce is now cut as half of the layoffs hitting Microsoft today.
In a memo to employees verified by IGN, Jill Braff, head of studio for Bethesda and ZeniMax, named Joseph Burba as Firor’s substitute as the brand new studio director for ZOS.
Dear Team,
Building on Matt’s word beneath, I first wish to take a second to acknowledge the adjustments occurring at the moment throughout Microsoft Gaming, together with Bethesda/ZeniMax. Saying goodbye to proficient colleagues and mates is painful. These people have contributed meaningfully to our studios, our video games, and our tradition. I wish to thank them for the contributions they’ve made that formed our journey as a workforce and as a firm.
Today is a day to assist each other. Please know we’re working intently with impacted workers to make sure they’re handled with respect and have our full assist during these tough occasions. If you’ve any questions or issues, please contact your supervisor or HR assist workforce.
I additionally wish to share at the moment that Matt Firor has determined to step down from his function as the top of ZeniMax Online Studios, efficient July 14. I wish to offer heartfelt due to Matt for his unbelievable management of ZOS over the past 18 years. As a driving pressure behind the success of The Elder Scrolls Online, Matt has grown the game into one of probably the most enduring and beloved MMOs within the industry.
I’m happy to announce that Joseph (“Jo”) Burba will likely be taking up for Matt Firor as the brand new Studio Director for ZOS. With over 20 years within the industry, his intensive expertise in reside service multiplayer titles, and a robust background in numerous roles throughout ZOS the previous 13 years, Jo is well-prepared to steer the workforce into its subsequent chapter.
Matt, Jo, and I’ll work collectively to finalize our transition plan – more to come back quickly. In the meantime, please be part of me in wishing Matt all the perfect and congratulating Jo on his new function.
Thank you to all of you to your dedication to Bethesda/ZeniMax, our neighborhood, and to one another.
Jill
The reference to Matt’s word right here is the prior memo Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, despatched to Microsoft gaming employees at the moment confirming the cancelation of Rare's Everwild and the Perfect Dark reboot, in addition to the closure of Xbox studio The Initiative. Booty additionally talked about the cancelation of "several unannounced projects" – the ZOS MMO was one of them.
IGN has reviewed Booty's memo and printed it in full, beneath:
Following Phil’s word, I wish to share more in regards to the adjustments to the Studios business items.
We have made the choice to stop improvement of Perfect Dark and Everwild in addition to wind down a number of unannounced tasks throughout our portfolio. As half of this, we’re closing one of our studios, The Initiative. These selections, together with different adjustments throughout our groups, mirror a broader effort to regulate priorities and focus assets to set up our groups for better success inside a altering industry panorama. We didn’t make these selections calmly, as every challenge and workforce signify years of effort, creativeness, and dedication.
Our total portfolio strategy is unchanged: build video games that excite our gamers, proceed to grow our largest franchises, and create new tales, worlds, and characters. We have more than 40 tasks in energetic improvement, continued momentum on titles delivery this fall, and a robust slate headed into 2026.
For these straight affected, we’re working intently with HR and studio management to supply assist, together with severance, profession transition help, and the place potential, alternatives to discover roles on different groups.
To everybody throughout our studios: thanks. Your creativity and resilience proceed to outline who we’re. I consider within the power of our groups and the path we're taking up the trail forward.
– Matt
Microsoft has made a large quantity of cuts to its gaming business since buying Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. It laid off 1,900 staff in January 2024, then made additional cuts simply a few months later when it closed Redfall developer Arkane Austin and Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks. In September 2024, Microsoft cut a further 650 staff from its gaming business. And in May this 12 months, Microsoft cut an eye-watering 6,000 staff, or 3% of its total workforce. Today's spherical of layoffs is the fourth to hit Microsoft's gaming business in 18 months.
Speaking to IGN in June 2024, Xbox boss Phil Spencer mentioned: "I have to run a sustainable business inside the company and grow, and that means sometimes I have to make hard decisions that frankly are not decisions I love, but decisions that somebody needs to go make."
The cuts come sizzling on the heels of Microsoft's confirmation that it plans to release next-gen Xbox consoles, and has a robust presence at video game show gamescom.
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images..
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can attain Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].