When the layoffs eventually came, one developer described the situation as "an impending sense of doom" about who it would affect.
"It's a beautiful game," said Asha Sharma when asked if it was a "priority" to make Bethesda's open-world RPG exclusive to Xbox.
“That’s why a lot of people had such long tenure here, and they were like, ‘Yeah, this is the place I’m gonna retire at," said Alex Nguyen.
After Xbox CEO Asha Sharma teased that the game's title includes an 8-letter word, fans have speculated that it could be Sentinel.
The studio took to social media to acknowledge that players have been asking for more updates to fix issues with Oblivion Remastered.
Asha Sharma's visit to Bethesda Game Studios coincided with union workers protesting with an inflatable rat and 800 red flags.
The new logo harks back to the studio's original typeface, though it's unknown whether this has any effect on its projects.
The studio's statement follows reports of former and current employees being worried about needing to crunch to make the RPG.
Bethesda invests in its biggest franchises more than ever before, even as titles like The Elder Scrolls 6 are nowhere to be seen.
In a recent interview, Howard said that there was a period of time when he thought about retirement, but is now happy with what he is doing.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Howard discussed working with Obsidian on a brand-new Fallout project and Bethesda's path forward.
Players can expect "targeted gameplay improvements and additional updates" alongside "the launch of new Starborn content" in 2027.
Eight years after its announcement, "The majority of our team" is still "currently working on the next chapter of the franchise."
"Something special" is being planned for Fallout's 30th anniversary next year in Washington as Bethesda skips Fallout Day in 2026.
Following extensive layoffs of experienced developers, Bethesda's long-awaited sequel could end up mired in delays and crunch.
"This has had a crushing effect on morale," claims a staff member at Bethesda, which reportedly suffered over 50 layoffs recently.
Bloomberg's Jason Schreier was asked about the state of The Elder Scrolls 6 and Bethesda during a recent Bloomberg Q&A session.
The Elder Scrolls and Fallout studio is reportedly shifting its focus to "our strongest franchises" to ensure "future growth."
Since the ending of the show's second season sets up a new location, Howard teased that the characters might get distracted along the way.
As we get closer to July, the processes for layoffs may have seemingly already begun, starting with studios under the Zenimax banner.
