600 laid off at ZeniMax Galway since 2014

A former Bethesda employee, speaking to Develop on condition of anonymity has confirmed the rumoured closure of Zenimax Galway and revealing the full extent of the layoffs.

Over the summer of 2014, the branch’s customer service group began to handle multiple titles handled by ZeniMax Online’s sister company Bethesda Softworks, including The Evil Within and Wolfenstein, as well as legacy titles. However, when The Elder Scrolls Online underperformed and didn’t meet the estimated expectations”, the decision was made to begin reducing the workforce.

Entire departments were closed down and large numbers of employees were laid off, our source tells us, but by the beginning of 2015 it was clear that even more jobs would be cut.

At the start of 2015, the office was home to 300 employees, with less than ten now remaining. The last people on site belong to the localisation department, or have administration roles such as IT or site management. At the start in 2014, we were told that money was not an issue,” our source told us. When the numbers weren’t looking good, the cuts were made.”

Head over to Develop for the detailed report.