Updated on June 28, 2025 at 7:37 am EST:Virtuos has released a statement confirming the layoffs.
“Virtuos is evolving to meet the changing needs of our partners and the industry,” says the statement. “As game development grows increasingly complex, we are realigning our global footprint and capabilities to strengthen our offering in high-value co-development, ranging from full game engineering to advanced art, including creative content production and live services.
“This evolution involves a rebalancing of roles across our studios and geographies. Approximately 7% of Virtuos’ global workforce was affected, primarily in teams facing lower occupancy and slower demand due to structural shifts in the industry. This includes about 200 roles in Asia and 70 roles in Europe, including fewer than 10 in France, where the core team working on Oblivion Remastered is located.”
You can read the full statementhere.
Original story follows below:
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remasteredis undoubtedly going to be among the Game of the Year contenders this year. Virtuos, the studio behind the remaster, brilliantly brought modern fidelity to the title,without losing out on any of its classic charm. So much so that evenstaunch Skyrim fans started questioning if Oblivion is the better game.
However, this has not saved the studio from layoffs. According to Gauthier ‘Gautoz’ Andres of French videogame publicationOrigami(viaPC Gamer), Virtuos is reportedly set to lay off around 300 employees, which make up around seven percent of its staff. A ten-pointBluesky threadalso claims that devs were made to undergo “mandatory” generative AI training.
Oblivion Remastered Studio Will Reportedly Lay Off 300 Employees
“Mass layoffs are underway at Virtuos, the studio behind Oblivion Remastered and the upcoming Metal Gear Solid [Delta],” says the post by Andres (translated via Google). “300 positions (7% of the workforce) are at risk at this outsourcing specialist located in Asia, the USA, and Europe, including three branches in France.
“According to several sources, these layoffs will initially target China (200 people) but will affect many other departments, including the French studios responsible for the recent success TES IV Oblivion Remastered. The watchword of the announcement made to the teams a few weeks ago: “competitiveness.”
Virtuos is said to have reportedly spared no expense on the quality of Oblivion Remastered, but contracts were created on a royalty-free basis, so no bonuses were paid out on the game’s success. This resulted in devs being put under pressure for a “showcase” game, whose profitability was never going to matter.
“In February, at the end of Oblivion’s development, the company announced a freeze on raises and a reduction in bonuses at the group level,” continued the thread. “Management was then questioned about the risk of layoffs following these measures, but sought to be reassuring.” This has reportedly resulted in an ongoing strike at Virtuos Lyon.
Another kicker in the report revealed that the studio has ramped up its generative AI experimentation. ““In one year, we’ve gone from a few group-level presentations to basic but mandatory training for employees,” said a source. Everyone Andres reportedly spoke to has lost trust in the management team.
