Weekend Highlights (July 18-19)

Bethesda disclosed sales figures for Skyrim and several other games, layoffs occurred at ZA/UM amid the unsuccessful launch of Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, and it was revealed that some XBOX studio heads "hate" Game Pass. We report on the main events in the gaming industry over the past weekend.

• Zero Parades: For Dead Spies by the creators of Disco Elysium turned out to be a financial failure. The studio ZA/UM admitted that the game earned less than expected, and the team is now forced to conduct layoffs. A total of 32 people will leave ZA/UM. "This will change the face of ZA/UM, but not the essence. Our artistic standards will remain unchanged, and we will continue our work," the developers emphasized.
• Game director of Marathon Joe Ziegler announced his departure from Bungie. As the developer explained, he decided to pursue "something new elsewhere" but is not yet ready to share details about his future plans. He added that his assistant Del Chafe, along with creative director Julia Nardin, will now oversee the development of Marathon. Ziegler had been with Bungie for a little over three and a half years, joining the studio in December 2022 after spending 12 years at Riot Games, where he was the game director for Valorant in his final years.
• Some heads of studios within XBOX have a strong dislike for the Game Pass subscription, stated Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier on the Triple Click podcast. They allegedly believe that Game Pass devalues games, as gamers have no incentive to purchase games individually when they can obtain them via subscription at a much lower cost. Schreier's information was also confirmed by Jez Corden from Windows Central, who spoke on condition of anonymity with several top managers. One of Corden's contacts noted that Game Pass creates the perception that their games cannot attract audiences without the subscription and ultimately turns into a "race to the bottom." Both Schreier and Corden suggested that Microsoft might change Game Pass in the near future. For example, they may stop adding games immediately upon release or allow gamers to include or exclude specific titles, but there are no guarantees of this.
• At the end of last week, Bethesda Game Studios posted a major update on social media about their projects. For instance, they announced four new games based on the Fallout franchise: a full-fledged Fallout 5, remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, and a game from Obsidian Entertainment. Simultaneously, the studio shared current metrics for some of their existing titles. According to Bethesda Game Studios, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has sold 65 million copies in total, while Fallout 4 has sold 35 million copies. Meanwhile, 17 million people have played Starfield, spending nearly a billion hours in the space RPG. Additionally, the studio noted that mod authors working with the Creations system have collectively received over $10 million in royalties to date.
• Simultaneously, Ubisoft boasted that sales of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced surpassed 3 million copies. The game reached this milestone within a week of its release.