The devastating layoffs mandated as part of Xbox's big reset hit Maryland-based developer ZeniMax Online Studios very hard, cutting 213 of its employees. Former Senior Encounter Designer Morgan Goin publicly stated that the studio couldn't possibly keep up the pace of The Elder Scrolls Online update it had strived for. Indeed, ZeniMax Online Studios swiftly told fans that the roadmap would have to change, and today Game Director Nick Giacomini has posted a letter outlining exactly how. As you'd expect, it's a bit of a good-news-bad-news situation. Let's start with the good news: The Elder Scrolls Online is here to […]

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The Elder Scrolls Online team has published a major update on its future roadmap following recent layoffs at ZeniMax Online Studios. With ESO entering a new era of seasonal content earlier this year, fans were concerned that the studio’s downsizing might impact development. Now, ZOS has outlined its new roadmap for ESO moving forward, which does include some content delays, but overall, not much has changed. 

In a new blog post from ZeniMax Online Studios, the team directly addressed the organisational changes and reaffirmed that ESO is here to stay, with development continuing under new leadership. While Zenimax will also be collaborating more with Bethesda on The Elder Scrolls moving forward, plans for long-term support for The Elder Scrolls Online remain unchanged for now. However, several major features initially planned for release this year are now being pushed to 2027 instead.

The studio has confirmed that several major features are now shifting into 2027. Crimson Veldt, the new trial that introduces mounted combat, needs additional development time. Update 52 has also moved into early 2027 and will bring the Jerall Pass PvP zone and Skyrim’s Dynamic Encounters. The Class and Combat refresh is being pushed into the same window, although ZOS is exploring smaller updates for classes that are still waiting for their full overhaul. The team says these changes are necessary to maintain quality following the recent restructuring.

Even with those delays, the 2026 schedule remains busy. Update 51 will now arrive in late September. This update will bring The Nowhere Vault to the game, as well as a new Rumors system for picking up quests more dynamically, alongside other player experience improvements.

As for ESO's new seasonal content updates – they will be continuing. Season One has already added a new story questline and new in-game events. Season Two will arrive in late October, bringing more quests, including new solo-play dungeons. Around this same time, some previously released ESO DLCs will be made free for all players, including The Greymoor Chapter and the Markarth DLC.

KitGuru Says: Development on new ESO features has slowed down a touch following the downsizing, but all future content plans remain in place for the foreseeable future, which is good news to anyone still jumping into ESO.

Following the recent layoffs and rumors of a new Fallout game in development at Obsidian, Bethesda Game Studios has now shared a lengthy message outlining the entire studio's roadmap for the coming years. The biggest takeaway is that the studio is doubling down on all its franchises, though with a particular focus on Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. Starfield isn't going away any time soon; after 17 million players and nearly a billion logged hours in the game, the studio will continue expanding the sci-fi game with new stories, gameplay improvements, and additional updates, while preparing for the launch of new […]

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ZeniMax Online Studios was among the first-party studios most affected by the Xbox layoffs in both July 2025 and 2026. Last year, the team saw its sci-fi online game Project Blackbird (with related layoffs of a few hundred employees who had been working on it for years) canceled despite then-Xbox CEO Phil Spencer reportedly loving it. The end of Project Blackbird also directly led to the resignation of ZeniMax Online Studios founder Matt Firor, who would later label it as a missed opportunity for Xbox. Following the cancellation of Blackbird, ZOS refocused on its prize jewel, the popular MMORPG The […]

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During a recent remote press event, we had the chance to preview today's Elder Scrolls Online 2026 Seasons Direct, which outlined the main new features and content coming this year to the MMORPG, and also asked a few questions to ZeniMax Online in a roundtable format. First things first: The Elder Scrolls Online is coming to PC Game Pass, with Xbox Play Anywhere support, on June 2. Moreover, the Gold Road Collection (ESO base game + Gold Road Chapter + all previous Chapters, including the additional Warden, Necromancer, and Arcanist classes) is now free to grab for PlayStation Plus members […]

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The PS Plus Essential games for March 2026 have been revealed, and after February's lineup added a couple of strong indie titles, this month's lineup of four games includes a few bigger names like PGA Tour 2K25 and Monster Hunter Rise headlining this month's batch. Plays subscribed to the bottom tier of PS Plus or higher will get access to the two aforementioned games, along with Slime Rancher 2 and The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Gold Road next week starting on March 3, 2026. As always, if you want to access these games after this coming month, you'll need to […]

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