In the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online, there is a confusing situation. Did Zenimax close the European support center in Ireland?
Last week, an Irish local newspaper from Galway reported: The EU support center for The Elder Scrolls Online is closed, no one works there anymore, 300 people were laid off.
Zenimax spoke out, saying:
The article in the Connacht Tribune and all articles based on it are unfortunately disappointingly inaccurate. We reduced the staff at the Galway customer service center by about 50 people in mid-August according to the changed requirements after the launch. This is a normal procedure. We have carefully worked with the IDA and the employees affected since last summer.
This was already a puzzling development, as a local newspaper should know whether 300 people go to work there every day or not. And when they report “No one works there anymore,” it seemed quite strange if it was a “hoax.”
In 2014, things went up and down in Ireland
And indeed, there seems to be more to this: The magazine “Develop” quotes an anonymous source, a former employee, who confirms the local newspaper’s report.
The office in Galway was opened in 2014 with 600 employees. Some of the temporary employees were later laid off when “things calmed down.”
Originally, Ireland was supposed to cover all languages (including English). A sister branch in the USA was to handle exclusively English-speaking customers. Galway was expanded in 2014, teams there took on other tasks, also working on publishing Wolfenstein or The Evil Within, titles from Bethesda.
In 2015, only down – EU support from India?
But when it became clear, the source says, that The Elder Scrolls Online was falling short of expectations, numerous employees were laid off in 2014 (this was reported too). In 2015, it became clear that even more people had to be laid off. In September 2015, the decision was made to close the branch completely. Support for all languages except English was to be outsourced to India. English-speaking Europeans were to be referred to the US office.
Whereas there were still 300 employees in Galway at the beginning of 2015, there are now less than 10. The last remaining employees are still taking care of localization or IT tasks.
Former employees confirm the story
In a reddit thread where the topic is discussed, a former employee of Zenimax has also come forward. His identity was verified by the moderators there. And this ex-employee confirms the version of the story that Develop also tells.
The ex-employee says: He experienced phases where people were hired wildly, and others where employees were apparently fired recklessly and without a pattern. The “big layoff,” this source says, occurred back in September 2014 – in the last months, they simply made the “final steps.”
The only statement from Zenimax on the matter was directed at the Irish local newspaper before the weekend. They laid off 50 people in August after the console launch. This is standard business practice. They were disappointed by the inaccuracies in the report.
Opaque situation
Mein MMO means: Yes, it’s a strange situation that is hard to see through. This also involves funding and industry-friendly legislation that made Ireland a “favorable location” for such a customer center a few years ago, no longer applies.
Over the last year, several reports came in that Zenimax is cutting jobs. Although the console launch was actually so successful that the current layoffs may not necessarily relate to the “status of the game,” but could simply be due to “outsourcing” for economic reasons.
Maybe we will learn more in the coming weeks about what is up with Galway, if anyone still works there and what is behind Zenimax’s strange denial. It seems they contradicted a report but did not unveil the whole truth. Even though they have not laid anyone off recently, the more important question right now is: How many are still working in Galway?
We obtained the title image from the article by Develop.
