Unionised staff at Bethesda Games Studios have voiced fresh concerns that Microsoft's latest round of layoffs will undermine the quality of future Elder Scrolls and Fallout titles, arguing that decades of institutional knowledge and technical expertise have been lost in the cuts. The comments, made to The Guardian, come as the union continues negotiating severance terms with Microsoft, adding to a string of warnings from current and former staff about the studio's ability to maintain its output following the layoffs.

Union representative Anne Barrett, a BGS gameplay engineer, said staff believed their work on highly anticipated projects would protect them, only to be dismissed in meetings lasting minutes despite, in some cases, decades of service. Dallas-based bargainer Alex Nguyen said the studio lost two veteran character artists whose work was central to the visual identity of its games. Barrett argued that proprietary technology and artistic style built up over 15-20 years cannot simply be replicated by new hires, disputing Microsoft's claims to the contrary. The cuts also affect id Software, where developers have alleged a "disposable worker mentality", while Microsoft says it has offered severance comparable to non-union staff; Bethesda union members recently held rallies at nine US offices.