Oblivion Remastered and Metal Gear Solid Delta co-developer Virtuos faces layoffs — with 270 workers cut

The unending deluge of cuts across the gaming industry doesn't appear to be slowing down, with video game development company Virtuos the latest to undergo layoffs.

After first being shared by reporter Gauthier Andres on Bluesky, Virtuos confirmed the layoffs to Eurogamer, affirming that around 270 workers were being cut from the company's teams, which amounts to about 7% of the company's global workforce.

According to Virtuos, about 200 jobs in Asia have been affected, with another 70 from various European teams, with fewer than 10 cut in France.

With headquarters in Singapore, Virtuos employs around 4,000 workers in studios around the globe. The company is known for providing support work on numerous titles, aiding the development of games like Hogwarts Legacy and Mortal Kombat 1.

More recently, Virtuos partnered with Bethesda Game Studios to lead development of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, which (as of May) is the second best-selling game of the year in the U.S.

Virtuos is also co-developing patches for Cyberpunk 2077, aiding CD Projekt RED in working on the recent 2.3 update that saw new features brought to the game, such as AutoDriving.

Additionally, the company is co-developing the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater with a team at Konami, with the remake slated to launch in August.

According to Andres, this also comes as sources tell him Virtuos is increasingly exploring using generative AI, with mandatory training for employees.

Andres also alleges that Virtuos had a "royalty-free" contract for its work on The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, meaning the company isn't receiving bonuses based off of how well the game is selling or how fast it reaches any particular milestones.

This also comes as layoffs continue to roll across the gaming industry at regular intervals with seemingly no end in sight. Publisher Electronic Arts recently laid off hundreds, shuttering Cliffhanger Games and canceling a Black Panther game that was in development, while also impacting the teams at Respawn Entertainment.

Sony Interactive Entertainment laid off about one-third of the employees at Days Gone developer Bend Studio weeks ago, with the cuts coming after a new live service game from the team was canceled in January.

Microsoft cut an unknown number of gaming workers in mass layoffs earlier in July, shuttering Perfect Dark reboot developer The Initiative, and canceling multiple titles, including a new MMORPG from ZeniMax Online Studios.