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As unionised staff prepare to protest Xbox layoffs
You've heard about Microsoft's mass layoffs by now. The last few days have been filled with stories of how these cuts are affecting different studios both still and formerly owned by Xbox, with even Elder Scrolls 6 developers Bethesda not being spared, regardless of that series being one their corporate overlords are determined to squeeze more out of going forwards. Thankfully, those overlords are reciving some pushback, with unionised Bethesda staff planning protest rallies and a modder using their talents to offer players a way of showing solidarity.
As reported by Kotaku, OneBGS, the CWA-linked Bethesda union, have announced plans to hold marches outside the studio’s four offices. The protests will take place next Wednesday on July 15th at 12:30PM ET, at Bethesda-run locations in Montreal, the city of Rockville in Maryland and the Texan cities of Austin and Dallas.
"The company wants us to accept this as a done deal and quietly disappear," OneBGS' organising committee said. "We won’t let that happen. Our next steps are to mobilize. We need every single member visible and unified. To that end, we are announcing our Save Our Devs March across all studios on Wednesday July 15th. We need to show management right now that we mean business, so they will properly take care of our fellow co-workers today and think twice before ever attempting something like this again. Stay strong, look out for one another, and we look forward to seeing us all marching together on the 15th."
As the unionised staff prepare for those marches, well-established Skyrim modder Emmi 'Elianora' Junkkari (if you've ever modded Skyrim, odds are you've used one of her player homes) has used her talents to create a mod to show solidarity with the laid off Bethesda workers. Fittingly called 'United Front', Junkkari's mod decks out two shields with the logos of OneBGS and Zenimax Workers United unions, as well as draping banners with the unions' logos on them across the various major cities of Skyrim. The idea is that downloading the mod and streaming or sharing screenshots of it in action can be a means for players to help raise awareness of the unions' efforts and send a message to Microsoft about the layoffs.
"We are the best allies to game devs," she wrote. "We give our money to these companies and they are afraid of what we can do. If we concentrate our efforts we can make a big, angry sound.
"I've had the privilege of working for years with some of the folks who got laid off this week, and my heart aches for them," she added in the mod's comments. "I've been seething all week. Every dev at BGS/BSW/ZOS I've ever met has been kind, talented and passionate about their work. They do not deserve to be this expendable. They love their work and they love modders and we shouldn't leave them alone with this. They are some of the finest folks on this planet."
Junkkari has also suggested a few other actions folks can take in the mod's description, as well as listing all of the laid off ZeniMax and Bethesda staff the mod's dedicated to.
If you want to grab the mod, it's got no requirements aside from owning Skyrim's Special Edition and is also available via Bethesda.net.
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