The sequelae of Xbox’s major layoffs are beginning to be directly reflected in game updates. The development team of “The Elder Scrolls Online” recently admitted that due to Xbox layoffs that have hit Bethesda and ZeniMax Online Studios hard, the team is currently facing a serious shortage of manpower. Therefore, it has to adjust some service content, and even the official web mall has been forced to reduce its functions.
Officially admitted: there are really not enough manpower
“The Elder Scrolls Online” community manager Kevin Gbolie said in the official announcement that in order to reduce the work burden of the development team, the official decided to remove the product browsing and purchasing functions of the website version of the Web Crown Store.
In the future, players can still purchase the game currency Crown through the official website, but if they want to view the latest mall products or purchase costumes, mounts and other content, they must log in to the in-game Crown Store. In addition, the official also stated that future mall update information and announcement content will be streamlined in order to devote limited manpower to more important work.
A layoff begins to affect player experience
This adjustment is not an update to the game content, but the first official public admission that layoffs have affected the daily operations of the team. In fact, ZeniMax Online Studios has lost a lot of manpower in this wave of Xbox layoffs. Not only have many senior executives left, but the size of the development team has also shrunk significantly. Some former developers even admitted that “The Elder Scrolls Online” may not be able to maintain the update speed of the past in the future, and the number of people in some departments is even only a quarter of the past. Nowadays, even the official mall has reduced its functions due to lack of manpower, and many players have begun to worry whether this is just the first step in the impact of “The Elder Scrolls Online”.