The Bethesda Game Studios employee union OneBGS, part of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), has announced protests at company offices following a massive wave of layoffs across Bethesda and ZeniMax divisions.
The demonstrations, dubbed the Save Our Devs March, will take place on July 15 near Bethesda studios in Montreal, Rockville (Maryland), and Austin. The reason for the protests is the layoff of nearly 450 union members across the ZeniMax structure.
According to OneBGS, the cuts affected approximately 440 employees, including about 100 workers from id Software, known for the Doom series, and over 200 employees from ZeniMax Online Studios, which develops The Elder Scrolls Online.
In a statement, the union emphasized that it does not intend to accept what has happened.
The company wants us to accept this as a fait accompli and quietly disappear. We will not let that happen. We need to show management that we are serious so that they take care of our colleagues today and think twice before ever taking such steps again.
As reported by Game Developer, Microsoft is obligated to negotiate the consequences of the layoffs with the union. OneBGS intends to seek the transfer of laid-off employees to open positions within Xbox and Microsoft, increased severance packages, extended health insurance, and priority re-employment rights for those laid off when Bethesda Game Studios expands.
The mass layoffs at Bethesda and ZeniMax are part of a larger restructuring of Microsoft's gaming division. According to available information, the cuts will initially affect about 1600 Xbox employees, and by the end of the company's fiscal year, that number could rise to 3200 people.