Bethesda is putting its biggest series at the center of the business after Microsoft’s latest gaming layoffs, with studio head Jill Braff telling staff the company will reorganize around the franchises that matter most to its future.
According to IGN, Bethesda was hit especially hard by the cuts across Xbox, with employees across several teams either already told they were affected or still waiting for clarity.
Braff said Bethesda needed a steadier base and a new way of working. She said the company would move away from a structure built around separate studio roadmaps and instead focus on the content plans that best serve Bethesda as a whole.
The approach will also tie talent, technology, and resources more tightly to the franchises with the strongest long-term potential. A Bloomberg report said that meant Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein would sit at the center of the overhaul. The company still has other major projects in motion, including Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6, while Microsoft has already said Arkane will be divested. Former employees also said on X that id Software had been hit by a large number of layoffs.
This post was about the insider news I got this morning that a majority of Id's studio is being laid off, including most (if not all) coders. https://t.co/OcPrLgvYBG
— Scott Miller – Apogee/3D Realms Founder ☢️ (@ScottApogee) July 6, 2026
Bethesda now appears to be narrowing its focus at a rough moment for Xbox’s internal studios, and that makes the next few months worth watching closely. Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, and Instagram.
