Elder Scrolls Online’s pivot to smaller Seasons “is not in any way a response to” Microsoft’s layoffs

Elder Scrolls Online developer Zenimax Online Studios has disputed that its recent pivot to smaller “season” expansions or chapters is related to Microsoft’s layoffs and a smaller team.

Last week, ZeniMax revealed “change is coming” to Tamriel in the form of Seasons, “a new way to adventure and earn rewards in The Elder Scrolls Online.” When asked by RockPaperShotgun if this was a result of the team “no longer manag[ing] those big releases,” ESO’s executive producer Susan Kath said, “Seasons is not in any way a response to that.”

“We kicked off the Season work at least 12 to 14 months ago,” Kath explained. “We started making the changes in the team to move in this direction, knowing that this was our intent.”

“Ultimately, we had a lot of people doing double duty on those projects, splitting their time between projects,” Kath added, referring to both ESO and the cancelled Project Blackbird. “[They] are now devoted 100 percent to Elder Scrolls Online. So, in fact, in some capacities, we actually increased the number of folks available as we came out of that because they weren’t managing two products anymore. They were only devoted to one title.”

“To say that [the layoffs] didn’t impact us wouldn’t be right,” added ZeniMax’s Nick Giacomini. “We’re putting on a strong face. We’re human. It absolutely impacted us. But, you know, the team rallied. We’re excited about the future. We’re excited that we’re making all these big changes.”

Following the closure of Zenimax Online Studios’ long-in-development MMO in July as part of the sweeping cuts and layoffs initiated by parent company Microsoft that impacted over 9,000 people, studio president Matt Firor left the company that same month. Firor has since confirmed he chose to walk away from the studio after Microsoft cancelled Project Blackbird, “the game [he] had waited [his] entire career to create.”