Overview

• Microsoft’s gaming division eliminated 9,000 positions in July, including hundreds at ZeniMax Online Studios, and cancelled three high-profile titles: Project Blackbird, Everwild, and Perfect Dark.
• Workers were cut off from Slack and email accounts before any human resources outreach, prompting claims of inhumane layoff practices.
• ZeniMax’s QA team had unionized and ratified its first contract in December but found no protection against the sudden cuts.
• Survivors warn that the swift departure of veteran developers erased critical institutional knowledge essential for sustaining ongoing game projects.
• Remaining employees describe shattered morale and deep uncertainty over the studio’s capacity to continue award-winning game development.