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The fallout from the bloodbath that is this week’s unprecedented cuts to Microsoft’s gaming division, which saw 1,600 Xbox employees lose their jobs immediately and will ultimately result in 3,200 cut jobs before the end of fiscal year 2027, continues with another high-profile departure. We’re now learning that 27-year Bethesda veteran and lead character artist Christiane Meister, who worked on the Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76, has been let go.
The news was spotted by Elder Scrolls scholar Lady Nerevar (via PC Gamer), and confirmed via Meister’s LinkedIn, which now reflects that the developer is a “former” Bethesda character artist and now open to work. “I was in charge of design, creation, and management of character art assets throughout all of the Elder Scrolls projects, starting with Morrowind to our latest title, Skyrim,” reads her bio.
Of course, there’s an unfathomable human toll to any mass layoff, but the loss of such an enduring talent – Meister wrote in a 2022 blog post about redesigning Skyrim’s Khajiit and Argonians, as well as the game’s horses – really underscores the fundamental level at which Xbox is willing to cut core talent behind its most beloved IP, despite the company’s renewed focus on those tentpole franchises.
Meister isn’t the only veteran losing her job, as Xbox’s latest layoff blitz has impacted a 37-year Microsoft veteran who served as lead of the Xbox Backward Compatibility program for Xbox 360 games on Xbox One, Kevin LaChappelle.
It makes sense then that groups like the Bethesda Game Studios Union are sounding the alarm on what it calls a “cycle of cuts in pursuit of ever-greater profits,” and one which I’ll note isn’t exclusive to Microsoft or Xbox. The games industry has been in a years-long downsizing crisis for years now with little sign of slowing down. Firings like Meister’s not only come across particularly callous but also chip away at the visual identity of franchises gamers have depended on for invaluable escapism for decades.