Virtuos, the studio behind Oblivion Remastered, is laying off around 270 employees

Virtuos, the studio behind The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, is laying off around 270 employees, which is approximately 7% of its workforce. The layoffs are primarily affecting teams facing lower occupancy and slower demand due to structural shifts in the industry. Virtuos says it's offering affected workers layoff packages, career transition assistance, and, where possible, job opportunities across its network. The company has been investing in key acquisitions to enhance its strengths in areas like VFX, design, Unreal Engine programming, and creative development. However, it's also selectively exiting service segments where demand is weakening, and needs to better match the locations of its teams with those of its clients to support the increasingly iterative nature of creative co-development. Virtuos has contributed work to various games, including the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and ongoing live service games like Dune: Awakening and Sea of Thieves. The layoffs reflect the current precarious state of the games industry, where even having steady work in post-release support and game remasters is not enough to avoid downsizing.