The Elder Scrolls Online developer, ZeniMax Online, was hit with layoffs this morning. While unfortunate for those affected, Bethesda’s Pete Hines assures that these changes are down to the game no longer needing as large a workforce and isn’t down to problems at the company.
“As is the norm for games of this type, we had ramped up a large workforce to develop a game of vast scale, and ramped up our customer service to handle the expected questions and community needs of The Elder Scrolls Online at launch,” Hines said. “Now that we are nearly 6 months post launch, we have a thriving online community in a game that runs smoothly.”
I decided to take another trip through Tamriel last month, and the game certainly seemed to have shaken off the issues that plagued it at launch. In the month I spent faffing around with my battlemage-type chap, I encountered only one broken quest – which worked the next day – and few other issues.
“We remain strongly committed to The Elder Scrolls Online, and continue to invest heavily to develop new content for PC players, prepare the game for its console launch, and handle our planned expansion into important international territories, Hines continued. “As for customer service, we continue to operate large support centers in Hunt Valley, MD and Galway, Ireland.”
Since launch, ZeniMax has been expanding its late game content considerably. The adventure zone, Craglorn, was introduced for veteran characters, adding new dungeons, delves, quests and team-based trials for players who had worked through all the other zones.
Craglorn is set to get bigger this month, too. Upper Craglorn will pop into existence, allowing players to continue the area’s story while tackling a new trial and more delves.
Cheers, Joystiq.