The Elder Scrolls Online's smaller expansions are "not in any way" a result of last year's layoffs
"Last year was a hard year for the studio," Elder Scrolls Online's executive producer Susan Kath says. "It was a hard year for all of us." In 2025, as part of sweeping cuts made across all their businesses, Microsoft laid off a significant chunk of Zenimax Online Studios. They did this despite CEO Satya Nadella later calling the year one of "record performance", with revenue up 15% and hitting $281.7 billion.
So, last week, when Zenimax Online Studios revealed it was moving from releasing major expansions every 12 - 18 months to smaller, more frequent updates every three months, it looked very much like the team could no longer manage those big releases.
Kath tells me that reading of events is wrong.