While still recovering in the wake of a game cancellation and staff being cut, ZeniMax Online Studios’ studio game director, Rich Lambert, wants the team to be the most successful studio possible.
During a recent conversation with GamesIndustry.biz, Lambert and other members of the studio leadership talked about what it’s been like at the team following Microsoft’s round of gaming layoffs in July, as well as what the studio hopes to do in the future.
“I want us to be the most successful studio in our entire organization,” Lambert says. “That’s a big thing to say because we’ve got Bethesda Game Studios, we’ve got MachineGames, and id – the list goes on. But I want us to be that group that everybody looks at, like we do with [Bethesda Game Studios].”
“You look at Todd Howard’s group and […] it’s, like, five Game of the Years in a row, and this massive legacy and all that,” he adds. “That’s what I want us to do.”
ZeniMax Online Studios is known for its work on The Elder Scrolls Online, but prior to July’s cuts, the team was working on another big, unannounced massively multiplayer online role-playing game. This game, codenamed Blackbird, was canceled despite Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer reportedly loving it when he played it.
When asked more specifically about the team’s plans, Lambert does say he still wants to make more outside of The Elder Scrolls Online.
“I want to make more games,” he replies. “I’m not done yet, and the team continues to want to make more games as well.
“I don’t think you can ride one thing into forever. I mean, obviously we want ESO to be successful, we want it to be that 30-year MMO, and commit to it,” he adds. “But if you put all your eggs in one basket, there’s issues.”
Even before the recent layoffs, ZeniMax Online Studios was changing how it worked on The Elder Scrolls Online, with 2025’s updates taking a vastly different shape compared to the regular yearly Chapter model that the team had previously used.
Xbox is still feeling the weight of recent cuts
The layoffs in July had far-reaching implications across the Xbox division, with multiple teams affected and numerous projects canceled.
One particularly painful loss was the closure of The Initiative, a studio founded back in 2018. The team was working on a reboot of Perfect Dark, which had been shown off in the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase.
Microsoft reportedly had talks with Take-Two Interactive around letting that publisher fund and publish the project, but the companies were not able to reach an agreement.
What will ZeniMax Online Studios do next?
As someone who enjoys The Elder Scrolls Online, I’m glad that the team at ZeniMax Online Studios is working on finding new ways to update and improve the experience.
There are a number of features and additions that have been on my list for some time. Personally, I’d love to see cross-play added, as not being able to team up with friends on a different platform feels increasingly strange in a world where practically every new multiplayer or co-op title has some kind of cross-platform play.
I’ve also made no secret of repeatedly asking the developers in the past about romance options for our characters, something they’ve repeatedly told me they are also interested in, but without any other tangible updates.
I do still also hope that this team gets to launch a new, non-Elder Scrolls game at some point. I have no idea if reviving Project Blackbird will be viable years down the line or if there’ll be something else that makes sense to work on, but it would be a shame for such a talented studio to never launch any other new games.
When I spoke to unionized workers at ZeniMax Media earlier this year in the wake of the layoffs, they described the mood as “rancid,” with numerous talented developers being cut. I can only hope that things improve in the months and years ahead.
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