Report: Bethesda Faces 'Significant Overhaul' At Xbox, Will Focus On Key Franchises

In her statement regarding the restructure at Xbox and the job layoffs / studio departures earlier today, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma mentioned that investment was shifting to "higher priority projects" in some cases at certain studios.

Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, who is well-known for being one of the most reliable "insiders" in the business, says that ZeniMax (the parent company of Bethesda) will face a "significant overhaul" as part of this restructuring.

In the process, it'll now focus on key franchises such as Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, DOOM, Quake and Wolfenstein.

"Sharma wrote that no publicly announced projects will be canceled as part of the restructuring but the cuts will take place across the entire organization, including the studios that Xbox is retaining, in part “to focus on higher priority projects.

ZeniMax will face a significant overhaul and will pivot to focus on its biggest franchises: Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein."

To be honest, that "pivot" doesn't sound particularly dramatic to us. Bethesda's studios have been focusing on the likes of DOOM and The Elder Scrolls already, and we seemingly know that Wolfenstein 3 is in the works along with potentially a couple of Fallout remasters or remakes.

What it possibly indicates is that we're not going to see more of Deathloop, Dishonored or even Starfield, for example, although who knows what the future holds for all of those franchises.

In any case, it sounds like the same kind of thing could happen at more Xbox studios in the months and years to come.

[source bloomberg.com]