Microsoft’s latest layoffs hit hard. Over 9,000 jobs were cut, many from Xbox studios. ZeniMax Media was among the worst hit, and workers are furious.

Locked out without warning

In a Game Developer report, current and former ZeniMax devs shared how ugly things got. One worker said they were booted from email and Slack without notice. Hours passed before they got any info. No email, no message, just gone.

ZWU-CWA union member Page Branson said the process was chaos. “People were distraught and confused. No one knew if they still had jobs or if the cuts were over.”

Some of those laid off were key to The Elder Scrolls Online. “Absolutely crucial,” said Branson. These weren’t junior staff. These were experienced devs who kept the game running.

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“Disgusting. Inhumane.”

Senior QA dev Autumn Mitchell, also in the union, didn’t hold back. “It’s not okay. It’s not normal. I don’t care how they try to frame it, it’s inhumane.”

She said people who’d been with the ZeniMax company for 15 years were cut mid-day. “They had to rush out goodbye messages in Slack. That’s disgusting.”

Mitchell’s message to execs: “Review this process. It’s not okay.”

Knowledge loss hitting hard

Branson warned of lasting damage. “A lot of knowledge disappeared overnight. Morale is down. Workflow is worse. Reliable people are gone.”

Mitchell estimates a third of ZeniMax’s institutional knowledge is gone. She’s not sure how they’ll maintain game quality. In some cases, she said, progress may not even be possible without rehiring lost staff.

Is Xbox’s future at risk?

The layoffs have gutted studios and shaken trust. Chasing quick savings has cost Microsoft dearly in experience and morale.

If this is how Xbox treats its developers, what future does it have? For many, Microsoft just became a name not to trust.

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