Saw this on Reddit.
Basically Starfield development started in 2015. Not sure of that’s new news?
Development could mean anything in this context, there’s probably a small team working on pre-production work right now for Elder Scrolls 6. It’s not the same as being in full scale production though. For a brand new IP I’m not at all surprised to know it had some extended level of production going on, this seems relatively normal.
Thats a lot of content
What exactly is spec ops though? Is that the same as the awesome Spec Ops missions that the original MW2 had?
Good. Don’t want another BF2042 situation of wasting valuable airtime.
Two key takeaways for me:
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Microsoft should absolutely elevate the baseline of benefits from the acquired studios, so that they match the Microsoft internal standard.
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The absence of current information is really weird.
They probably did not read recent Glassdoor reviews 
They prepared article in advance to find a right timing to release it.
Can’t provide that, they wouldn’t want to provide an accurate account or show the positive impact of the acquisition. It’s only weird if you think they’re doing actual journalism.
I’m very mixed on the Sea of Thieves adventures so far. I think these are poorly designed and not friendly or intuitive.
Uhmm dont these things take time? I mean, maybe nothing changes in relation to Zenimax getting the MS’s employee treatment but the acquisition is fairly recent and it could be that the “integration” (or whatever you called that) is not 100% completed yet. If I’m not mistaken Jeff Grubb alluded something like this before.
Lametaku gonna lametaku. there’s a reason why Bethesda still blacklisted them.
Welp we will never know the real truth
As of right now, Zenimax is a separately run subsidiary of Microsoft. This is often done to reduce redundancy, increase creative autonomy and ensure non-interference. However, this also means unfortunately that they are not privy to some of the synergies and benefits that a fully integrated subsidiary like Obsidian or InXile are. It is unclear their future plans for the division (ABK, for instance, the goal appears to be full integration with the team answering exclusively to MS Gaming’s team which will likely lead to cultural shifts, changes in benefits… and unfortunately job loss).
There’s no easy answer which is best, but if I was MS, I would certainly up the Zenimax budget with the caveat that further benefits be paid out. Granted, we do not know the full story here (Zenimax has historically among the highest rates of retention in gaming and it seems these were all prior employees, which means this could have been changed at the start of Zeni’s fiscal year, for instance. We also don’t know who were employees vs. contractors who are oftentimes covered under the benefits with their contracting firm), but at the end of the day, they certainly should look to ensuring equality of benefits firm-wide. It’s not just good for employee retention, it’s also good for inter-departmental moves (if a talented bloke at Compulsion wants to move to Bethesda down the streets to help, why would they for lesser pay/benefits?)
What is your definition of fully integrated? None of the studios purchased since the acquisitions started in 2018 are “fully integrated”. They all still operate independently with the financial and resource backing of MS.
Zenimax as a firm still exists. Publishes, localizes, manages their own finances, their studio marketing, etc. Comparitively, Obsidian answers to MS for that stuff.
If Zenimax was fully integrated, Bethesda, Arkane, etc. would run under XGS and XGS and Zeni would merge.
Finally… Been wanting this to happen for a long time, because it’s been such an obvious answer.
And for those who don’t get what I’m going for…
Quality clarification!
Fantastic post as always Deo.
I think people should wait a couple of years before concluding Zenimax devs won’t get any kind of benefit from being part of MS. Apparently, Linkedlin also doesn’t receive all of those benefits, just some of them.