Starfield: Development threatened, Microsoft layoffs fault

We talked about it in our column yesterday. On Wednesday, January 18, 2023, Microsoft launched a major restructuring plan that resulted in the layoffs of more than 11,000 employees worldwide. In October 2022, the Redmond firm had already laid off more than 1,000 people working in various branches of the American giant.

If we had known that the engineering department would be affected by these departures, our colleagues at Bloomberg confirmed this. this will also apply to the Gaming section. According to respected journalist Jason Schreier, veterans from major Microsoft studios including 343 Industries (Halo) and Bethesda Games (The Elder Scrolls VI, Starfield) were invited to the door.

“Some of those who lost their jobs were veterans who had worked for Xbox for over a decade. […] Microsoft isn’t giving specific numbers, but several employees told me 343 Industries was hit hard. This comes after a long hiring freeze and many contract workers leaving.” The journalist explains on Twitter.

Microsoft fired many developers from Halo Infinite and Starfield

Patrick Wen, former designer of Halo Infinite and currently working at Respawn Entertainment, condemned on the social network “Incompetent leadership at the top” during the development of Halo Infinite. We remember that the development of the title was marked by many setbacks. In particular, it caused the game’s release to be delayed for a year.

Returning to the statements of the journalist, Jason Schreier, he also claims that the developers had to leave Bethesda Games Studios, which is currently working on the highly anticipated Starfield. Unfortunately, the company declined to give precise details on the number of dropouts and the possible consequences of these dismissals on the viewing, development and release of games from the respective studios… In parallel, Jason Schreier recalls: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella earned at least $54.95 million in 2022.