Microsoft and Bethesda Face Protests After Layoffs

After the wave of layoffs that hit Xbox at the beginning of the month, employees from id Software, ZeniMax, Microsoft, and Obsidian joined protests regarding the dismissal of 1,600 employees.

The main complaints were directed at Asha Sharma, Xbox’s CEO and one of the people linked to the company’s "cultural reset." Some of the signs even reference the executive’s goal of reaching 1 billion daily players, calling the statement "stupid."

Another sign says that "Microsoft is killing its games." It’s worth noting that among the layoffs carried out by Microsoft, a large portion of the id Software employees who knew how to work with the studio’s game engine, which powers the Doom franchise, were let go.

The protests were led by the Communications Works of America (CWA), a union focused on the gaming industry that represents several studios. Recently, after the layoffs, Bethesda, which oversees id Software and ZeniMax, even issued a statement confirming two Fallout remasters, Fallout 5, and a new entry in the franchise from Obsidian.

At the same time, Obsidian lost around 25% of its staff, while ZeniMax, which handles The Elder Scrolls Online, lost studio leadership for the second time in 2026.

In id Software’s case, the situation is more dramatic, with around 75% of the studio being laid off, which likely does not bode well for the Doom franchise in the coming years.