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.

As part of one of Microsoft’s earlier Xbox restructures – in which the likes of Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks were shut down – a lesser-known team was also impacted, with Alpha Dog Games unfortunately being closed. Like with Tango Gameworks however, reports of Alpha Dog Games’ death were ‘exaggerated’, with the studio now back and independent once again.

As shared by Timur222, Alpha Dog Games founder Shawn Woods updated their LinkedIn page revealing that the studio, which was shuttered by Microsoft back in 2024, has since been revived.

Said to have been opened back up in May of 2025, Woods confirmed that Alpha Dog Games is once again an independent studio – suggesting that they stuck a similar deal to that seen with the likes of Double Fine and Compulsion Games more recently.

As of now, no new details have been shared on what the team is working on, however they did give a bit of a timeline on their independence, writing: “Originally acquired by Bethesda in 2019 and later becoming part of Microsoft Xbox through the ZeniMax Media acquisition in 2021, Alpha Dog returned to independent ownership in 2025 when the founding team reacquired the studio.”

Alpha Dog Games was one of Zenimax / Bethesda’s lesser-known studios, with the small team being responsible for the mobile-focused Mighty DOOM – which launched to mixed reviews. That said, many of the complaints came from its monetisation practices, and so it will be interesting to see how an independent Alpha Dog Games will approach their next title in this regard.

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KitGuru says: What did you think of Mighty Doom? How was the gameplay itself? Are you glad to see most studios survive their Xbox exodus? Let us know down below.

Zenimax Online Studios is undergoing a significant round of layoffs, according to newly published Maryland WARN filings. The documents indicate that dozens of employees have been let go, including senior leadership and key creative staff involved in the long‑running development of The Elder Scrolls Online.

According to a report from Game File, dozens of employees have been let go, including high‑level staff within the ESO team. With key designers, writers and team leads departing, players are questioning whether the game’s long‑standing update cadence can realistically continue. ESO has maintained a reliable annual structure for more than a decade, typically delivering a major chapter, additional DLC zones and regular balance patches.

In a post on the game’s forums, Zenimax said it “will continue to update and support the game for years to come,” adding that ongoing development plans remain in place. However, sources have said that the loss of certain key staff members may slow production.

Chances are, there will be some roadmap adjustments due to the layoffs, but nothing is confirmed yet. ESO just launched its first seasonal content update as part of a new effort to keep players engaged long-term, so the timing of all of this is less than ideal.

KitGuru Says: ESO may not pull WoW numbers, but it has been one of the best MMOs on the market in my opinion. Hopefully it can continue to be supported post layoffs, after all, it is currently the only way to play any new Elder Scrolls content, as Bethesda Game Studios is still far off from bringing out the next mainline single-player game. 

Following weeks of leaks and rumours, Microsoft finally made it official that they would be parting ways with 5 of their previously-acquired studios while also letting go of more than 3000 employees – half now, and the other half throughout the year. While details were somewhat light at the time, we have now gotten a clearer picture on how this is impacting Xbox Studios.

In the immediacy following the Xbox announcement, reports started popping up uncovering some of the less pleasant aspects of this recent shake-up. While we previously spoke on the fact that id Software have reportedly lost around half of its entire workforce, new details have emerged regarding Xbox’s other studios.

As discovered by the publication GameFile, new WARN notices released by multiple US states show just how wide-sweeping these recent lay-offs have been. According to these notices, Obsidian Entertainment is losing 52 workers (around 25% of its developers), with Zenimax Online Studios and Zenimax HQ seeing 213 and 166 lay-offs respectively.

Additionally, known insider Jason Schreier recently claimed that this marks a “big pivot” for Obsidian, with The Outer Worlds studio having its sequel to Avowed cancelled in favour of working on a new Fallout game.

As mentioned previously, we will likely continue to learn more about how exactly each studio is being impacted as the days progress. Either way, this is a dark time for the games industry.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of these new details? Will Xbox recover from all of this? Let us know down below.

After weeks of leaks, rumours and speculation, Microsoft finally officially announced that they will be making some big sweeping changes at Xbox, with the likes of Compulsion Games and Double Fine going independent – as other studios are set to be sold off. While previous claims suggested that Microsoft’s Zenimax would be shaken up heavily with a refocus on the likes of Fallout and Elder Scrolls, insiders have now revealed that the company will continue to support Zenimax’s other franchises, including Wolfenstein, Quake and DOOM.

Following the recent memo from Microsoft – in which they revealed that over 3000 Xbox employees will be let go, with up-to 5 studios parting ways with the company – known industry insider Jason Schreier took to social media to offer some clarity on how this is affecting Zenimax Media, writing:

“ZeniMax will be impacted significantly by the reorganization but will NOT be reduced to only Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, despite rumors over the last few weeks. The publisher will also still work on Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake.”

For the uninitiated, Zenimax Media is the parent company of Bethesda Game Studios; Arkane; id Software; Machine Games and Zenimax Online Studios, being responsible for franchises including the aforementioned DOOM; Quake; Elder Scrolls; Fallout and Wolfenstein. They also previously owned Tango Gameworks – though the studio was ultimately shut down by Microsoft following the acquisition (but was luckily saved by Krafton).

Given the popularity of Fallout and Elder Scrolls, it makes sense that Microsoft would want to fast-track the release of new entries in both series (especially given that Skyrim released 15 years ago at this point).

That said, Zenimax is home to many iconic and classic video game franchises, and so it is welcome to see that the likes of DOOM, Wolfenstein and Quake aren't going away any time soon…hopefully.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Microsoft’s latest moves? Has Bethesda been resting on its laurels? What about Zenimax as a whole? Let us know down below.

Earlier this week, we learned that Xbox is planning to shut down three of its game development studios – Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory and Double Fine. Now just days later, it appears that companies under the Bethesda / Zenimax umbrella are also being targeted.

According to George Broussard, a long-time game developer and co-founder of 3D Realms and Apogee, he has heard through friends that “layoffs at Zenimax have begun”, adding the cuts “may be much deeper than you expect”.

Zenimax has already been hit by layoffs and game cancellations a couple of times since joining Microsoft. At this point, it seems that any studio that isn't working on a current large IP, like The Elder Scrolls or Fallout, is now at risk.

Insider Gaming has reported that Arkane Lyon may also be at risk of closure but no final decision has been made yet. Arkane Lyon is currently working on a high-budget Marvel game, which new Microsoft bosses may not be too happy with, as licensing fees will limit the profit potential.

KitGuru Says: When Phil Spencer first started buying up studios for Xbox in 2018, the aim was to provide variety and projects of different budgets and scopes. Unfortunately, that goal has changed since spending all of that money on Activision Blizzard.