# “The goal is to provide what we can”: Elder Scrolls Online Crown Store undergoing changes due to “team bandwidth” in wake of Xbox layoffs

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-goal-is-to-provide-what-we-can-elder-scrolls-online-crown-store-undergoing-changes-due-to-team-bandwidth-in-wake-of-xbox-layoffs/
- Published: 2026-07-22T15:39:15+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-22T18:48:55+00:00
- Original publisher: Rock Paper Shotgun
- Original article: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-goal-is-to-provide-what-we-can-elder-scrolls-online-crown-store-undergoing-changes-due-to-team-bandwidth-in-wake-of-xbox-layoffs
- Topics: Art, Celebrity, Culture, Entertainment, Gaming, Music

## Key points

- ESO removes web-based Crown Store browsing after Xbox layoffs cut staff
- Players must now log into the game to view/buy store items
- Monthly Crown Store blog and screenshots also being scaled back

## Summary

The Elder Scrolls Online's Crown Store is being scaled back after Microsoft's mass Xbox layoffs left the game's team with reduced staff to manage it. ZeniMax has removed the ability to browse the store via the official website, meaning players must now log into the game itself to view and purchase items, while still being able to buy the in-game "crowns" currency online. The change highlights how the layoffs are already reshaping day-to-day operations on one of Microsoft's most commercially important live-service games.

Community manager Kevin Gbolie said the Web Crown Store was pulled from elderscrollsonline.com on Wednesday 22nd July "to help manage workload", with the monthly Crown Store Showcase blog also becoming "more list-like" due to "team bandwidth" constraints. The reduced screenshot output will also affect the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages wiki, which relies on official high-resolution images; Gbolie acknowledged this but said the team "doesn't have the capacity to provide those at the scale we could before."

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.