Bethesda pivots to 'strongest franchises' as Xbox layoffs hit

Bethesda's leadership told staff the company needs to "change course" and prioritize its "strongest franchises" following layoffs across Xbox studios, according to IGN. The memo didn't name which franchises survive the cut, but Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Doom are the obvious anchors. Starfield — Bethesda's newest IP — launched to mixed reception in 2023, and its post-launch support has been lighter than expected.

Xbox has cut jobs across multiple first-party studios in 2024 and 2025, including Arkane Austin (shuttered entirely after Redfall) and now more at Bethesda Game Studios and related teams. The shift suggests Microsoft is tightening the leash on experimental projects and betting harder on proven series.

For PC players waiting on Elder Scrolls 6 or a next-gen Fallout, this could mean faster iteration on those franchises — or it could mean skeleton crews on everything else. Starfield's first expansion, Shattered Space, underperformed critically. If Bethesda treats it as a one-and-done, the studio's Creation Engine roadmap narrows considerably.

If you're running Starfield or any Bethesda title, check your settings — older Creation Engine games scale weirdly across modern CPUs, and per-core load is often the real limiter, not GPU.