Bethesda's Montréal studio has told laid-off employees they will receive only the legal minimum severance, according to workers' union OneBGS, which is now pursuing a formal complaint against the company for allegedly breaching Canadian labour law. The dispute follows this month's mass layoffs across Microsoft's Xbox division, which affected around 3,200 staff, and adds to growing scrutiny of how Microsoft has handled the cuts at unionised studios.

The union says staff were notified of their termination on 17th July, receiving eight weeks' pay in lieu of notice plus outstanding vacation pay, and losing group health benefits immediately, terms OneBGS calls "the bare legal minimum" and a contradiction of earlier assurances given on a 6th July call that jobs would run until September while severance was negotiated with the union. Notably, the termination emails reportedly landed the same day Bethesda unveiled updates to major franchises including Fallout, The Elder Scrolls and Starfield. OneBGS has announced a protest march and, given Canada's strong labour protections, believes it has strong grounds to challenge Microsoft.