The future of the Elder Scrolls Online looks rocky after culling of leadership team

ZeniMax Online head Joseph Burba is among over 200 staff laid off at the Elder Scrolls Online studio last week as part of Xbox's recent round of mass layoffs. Burba has been with the studio for 14 years, and has worked on The Elder Scrolls Online since its 2014 launch. He was promoted to studio lead in July last year.

The news comes via Game File, who obtained a list of roles impacted by Microsoft's recent purge from the state of Maryland, where both ZeniMax Online Studios and its parent company, ZeniMax Media Inc, are based. In addition to Burba, ESO executive producer Susan Kath, game director Rich Lambert, and production director Ala Diaz have all lost their roles.

According to documents seen by Game File, all four will remain at the studio for "the next few months" to help transition a new leadership team, which will consist of ESO game lead Nick Giacomini, and business operations lead Josh Henderson.

"We have tremendous confidence in Josh and Nick, the future of this studio, and the continued growth of ESO," an internal memo penned by the outgoing leadership read. "With exciting experiences still ahead for our players as we wrap up work for Update 51 and beyond, we believe that your passion, creativity, and commitment to each other and the community will continue serving as the heartbeat of ESO."

ZeniMax Online has shrunk considerably since late 2024, when its headcount was roughly 461 if union membership is any indication. After layoffs in 2025 and 2026 the studio has lost at least 40% of its workforce. Lopping off executive staff is probably a quick and easy way to save money, but it also means destroying—especially in the case of Burba—decades worth of institutional knowledge.

It's unclear how "growth" will be achieved for ESO in light of how severely the studio's head count has contracted, but according to ESO community manager Kevin Gbolie, writing after news of the layoffs, "the plan is still to deliver great content, and we will hopefully have an update soon."

Last week's seismic Microsoft layoffs also impacted ZeniMax Media: of the 379 in total, 213 were from ZeniMax Online Studios, and 166 from ZeniMax Media, the latter including Bethesda Game Studios and Bethesda's publishing concerns.