ROCKVILLE, Maryland—In a show of solidarity and determination, hundreds of Bethesda Game Studios and Zenimax Online Studios employees and their supporters gathered in front of parent company Zenimax’s headquarters today to protest sweeping layoffs across Xbox. The rally was one of five organized by the union at offices across Texas, California, and Montreal.
The protesters held up signs with messages like “Layoffs… layoffs never change” and “Our players deserve better” as union organizers and employees rallied the crowd with speeches and songs. The overwhelming message was one of solidarity and a willingness to push back against job cuts they say have decimated their development and quality assurance teams.
“[The layoffs] are not inevitable,” said Jay Woodward, an AI programmer who was let go after nearly 20 years at Bethesda. “That’s a complete nonsense concept, especially when the studio, when the overall company is doing fantastically well, there’s no need to say that this has to happen.”
According to union organizers, one of the main demands is for Microsoft to return to the bargaining table and resume contract negotiations with the remaining uncontracted members of Bethesda Game Studios. This comes after a separate agreement was reached with QA testers last year that included guaranteed severance for laid-off employees.
“We had … a reduction in force proposal on the table for months, and they ignored it,” said Nathan Hahn, a technical producer and union volunteer organizer. “They never got back to us. So instead, they’ve chosen to do layoffs … without bargaining with us, and that’s something we’re fighting back against.”
In response to a request for comment, a Microsoft spokesperson said the company respects its employees’ right to make their voices heard and is committed to effects bargaining.
The rally was attended by Rockville Mayor Monique Ashton, who offered her support for the group of employees she said are a key part of the local community and economy. “We have seen job losses related to issues in the federal government… [but] to see the gaming industry that has been blossoming, so this, it’s something that I’m concerned about,” Ashton said.
Following a round of layoffs last year, Bethesda employees said they were still shocked at the depth and breadth of the job losses in this latest round, which affected hundreds of Maryland employees. Juniper Dowell, whose five-year tenure as a quality assurance tester ended with last week’s layoffs, told Ars that the reduced workforce continuing work on franchises like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls would be akin to “trying to sing with half a choir or a band with a drummer missing.”
Hahn added that continuing to develop the big Bethesda franchises that Xbox says is a priority will be difficult after “they laid off folks with decades of experience working on the types of games that we make. We had received some signals from Xbox that Fallout and Elder Scrolls were gonna be pivotal titles for them. And then to hear that our teams, who work on those games got cut, was a real deep cut for us. … Who do you ask that question to if they’re no longer here?”
Source: Original article