The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered / Bethesda & Virtuos
Developers of Oblivion Remastered and Metal Gear Solid Delta are facing massive layoffs, with up to 300 people losing their jobs.
Virtuos Studio, which worked on Oblivion Remastered and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, is in the spotlight with staff reductions. According to a French journalist Gautier Andrés with Origami, the company is preparing to lay off up to 300 developers, which is about 7% of its global team.
According to Andres, sources inside Virtuos describe a tense situation. Currently, employees have problems with trust in the management, and internal problems have been exacerbated after the release of Oblivion Remastered Although the game is called one of the most successful releases of 2025 — Virtuos did not receive any bonuses from sales. The fact is that the studio worked with Bethesda on an outsourcing basis and received only money for the work performed.
Now, Virtuos plans to lay off 200 employees in China and about 100 more in France and the United States. The French office of Virtuos Lyon has already gone on strike to protest the decision. The team’s separate claim is the mandatory introduction of generative artificial intelligence into their work. Employees were forced to undergo trainings with new AI tools, which have now become part of mandatory processes. Virtuos has not yet made an official statement on the layoffs.
The studio remains one of the largest companies in the field of collaborative development. Not only Oblivion Remastered and Metal Gear Solid Deltabut also Horizon Forbidden West, Dark Souls Remastered for Switch, and the upcoming Judas from the creator of BioShock. In particular, their latest project — assistance in the development of patch 2.3 for Cyberpunk 2077. However, even participation in large projects did not guarantee stability.
In March 2025, Virtuos CEO Gilles Langurier saidHe said that co-development is becoming increasingly important for the industry, which is trying to cut costs. He explained that it was studios like Virtuos that helped big publishers not to take too many risks. But even this model is now failing — they have not been able to avoid financial problems.
Source: Gauthier Andrés