Bethesda Stops Investing in Some Games

The impact of Microsoft’s massive layoffs this year continues to ripple out. One of these developments was Bethesda Softworks’ withdrawal of financial support for some unannounced game projects. The first repercussions of this decision came from Romero Games.

Most of Bethesda’s Projects Left Unsupported

Romeros Games, based in Ireland and founded in 2015 by John Romero and Brenda Romero, was working on an unannounced FPS game supported by Bethesda. However, the studio announced on social media that Bethesda had canceled funding for the project. And they are not alone; there are other studios in a similar situation, it has been reported.

Romero Games stated that they had completed all milestones on time and successfully passed the internal review process. However, the decision to cancel was made outside of the studio’s control and was a high-level strategic decision by Bethesda. The studio is currently evaluating possible steps to support its employees.

Bethesda Softworks was among the companies affected by Microsoft’s wave of layoffs affecting 9,000 people. Many employees announced on LinkedIn that they had been laid off or were at risk of being laid off.

An internal memo sent by Phil Spencer to employees confirming the losses across Xbox was also leaked online. Call of Duty studios Raven Software and Sledgehammer Games were also affected by this process. The other projects and studios that Bethesda has withdrawn from support have not yet been officially announced. However, developments show that many independent teams in the sector are on the verge of a difficult period.

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