This article perfectly sums up why I'm still a techno-optimist and also a AI hater. Thanks @aftermath.site and specifically Gita Jackson for this. aftermath.site/anthropic-cl...

NEW: The layoff confirmations are pouring in now. Another WARN notice indicates that a total of 379 ZeniMax employees based in Maryland have been laid off by Microsoft. That includes 213 workers at ZeniMax Online Studios, the developer behind The Elder Scrolls Online.

One way you can show Microsoft your concern is here through the XBOX Player Voice feedback platform: feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/ide...

Commission info can be found on my Artistree: artistree.io/akumalichan

Games aren't made by studios, they're made by people. The studio is just the logo on the side of the building. The way this industry is undervaluing, abusing, and discarding people is shameful, and it's doing damage to this medium we will never fully know. All while execs line their pockets.

Where to start? After 14+ amazing years of doing truly epic work on the beloved Elder Scrolls franchise (Elder Scrolls Online in specific), today I was among the way-too-large number of employees let go for strategic business reasons. Not sure what's next, but I suppose I'll think of something.

If you're sitting there wondering "how did we get here? How did the games industry get like this?" Cringe as it is to plug one of my own videos, I made a 40-minute video essay detailing exactly this. Labor has been a struggle since the dawn of time. Our sitch is not unique. youtu.be/g1rlCfaRT1I

Working at ZeniMax/Bethesda for the past 16.5 years has been the biggest honor of my life. Working with SO many talented people on SO many games seems unreal! Like a lot of my friends and colleagues, I was a part of the Xbox reductions announced today.

I am among the impacted. If you've ever said something nice online about anything I wrote for ESO (esp. Sharp, Zerith, Corelanya Manor, or Caterwaul Cove) just know that I likely have a screenshot of it in a folder of mine called "Reality Check" that I look at on days like today.

XBOX is doing massive layoffs today, and as a member of Zenimax Online Studios, I have been "impacted". I will be looking for a new position.

Sad to say I was one of the many,many folks impacted today. 14 years is an unreal amount of time to have contributed to what has endored as one of the great MMOs over the years. In a time when everyone was making a play for this space, we persevered through it all and I couldn’t be more proud.

I want to re-emphasize one part of this Xbox story: Half of the 3,200 cuts are happening today and half are happening in the next 12 months. In other words, even people who survived today's layoffs will have to spend the coming year wondering if they're going to be next.

Howdy y'all, I just got laid off as part of the cuts from Xbox. I have 7 years of experience making full stack web apps, the last 3 of which have been with Zenimax Online Studios supporting The Elder Scrolls Online. Would greatly appreciate if anyone knows of any opportunities!

It's been so odd to see my coworkers at ZOS who picked up the pieces on ESO after the project cancelation and layoffs exactly a year go through the same thing now. So much talent simply tossed aside. Bad management decisions from Microsoft are to blame, but its the developers who suffer for it.

Can we finally acknowledge that we're in an honest-to-god class war and start treating our politicians, bosses, companies, and celebrities accordingly? Endless waves of layoffs and ballooning prices justified by AI spend that nobody wants can't possibly be sustainable. Everything is dogshit now, man

I am unbelievably shattered and heartbroken with the news coming out of ZenMax Online and Xbox in general today. The team at ZOS is made up of amazing, dedicated, smart - and above all, awesome humans. To see so many of them laid off today - and last year at this time - is just awful

Sad to say my time (along with so many others) at Bethesda is over. 💔The past 8 years here has been a dream, surrounded by an amazing team with extraordinarily talented people. Taking a look back at some of my favorite moments and personal social projects.💙

The Elder Scrolls Online team is seemingly being devastated by today's layoffs, even as those who remain recommit to its continued development. https://kotaku.com/elder-scrolls-online-team-seemingly-halved-xbox-layoffs-2000712920

After almost 19 years, I am absolutely heartbroken to say my time at ZOS has come to an end. Supporting this game and community has been a dream come true and one I won’t soon forget.

Studios in the Bethesda organization like id Software (Doom) and ZeniMax Online Studios (Elder Scrolls Online) are not shutting down but are cutting a significant number of staff this morning, per sources.

just one more layoff bro. i promise pro just one more layoff and it'll fix everything bro. bro. just one more layoff. please just one more. one more layoff and we can fix this whole problem bro

I’ve also been impacted. I’m proud as hell of the work I did starting our union. I have nothing but love for the people I worked with. I’m still in shock, going through a range of emotions. Brushing up my resume now but damn, damn this sucks.

Hey folks, I have been impacted by these layoffs. For nearly 15 years ZOS has been my home. I have had a hand in every dungeon/arena/trial/event zone/challenge difficulty/etc. in my time here but my best accomplishment is mentoring these kickass designers that delivered so much joy to folks.

Hey folks, my time at ESO has come to an end. I have no idea what this means for the game, but as of right now I have been impacted by these layoffs.

GG to GDQ

this shit makes america not worthy of celebrating to me. protestors even barely rising up against injustice at the hands of our government get shot and beat and thrown in prison, and these shitbags who are the very thing that wishes to destroy this country are protected “protestors”

The upcoming @cheapshow.bsky.social Magazine (#19) will feature commissioned artwork by 3 different artists. This isn't incidental, it's one of the main goals I strive for; to get as many creative individuals as possible involved. I reckon it has been the zine's biggest asset! #theaifreezine [1/2]

Happy Fourth. On this day, I like to revisit Frederick Douglass’ “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July,” and in particular, this video NPR produced a few years back of portions of the speech being read by Douglass’ descendants. youtu.be/NBe5qbnkqoM?...

I just watched the scenes of Oliver straight up aura farming out of a helicopter with a swat team, when the hell did General Hospital become Metal Gear Solid?! #GH

Happy Return of the Living Dead day to all who celebrate

Union workers establish hardship fund to support devs impacted by layoffs

Guaranteed: 1) Black girls will be harassed and demanded to be tested over and over again regardless of how competitive they are. 2) Winners from public schools will be relentlessly hounded by the parents and coaches of losers at private schools, with the goal of making them quit the sport.

Trans rights are human rights, fuck each and every single person who tries to remove their freedoms and shared humanity.

Happy #PrideMonth! Enjoy a Tesla getting smashed by a light rail train with a pride flag.

Wacom recently asked me to talk about why I make queer comics, and given there are multiple bills right now floating around in congress that are effectively "we will kill your livelihood if we get a sniff of queer" I had some pretty strong, simply feelings to relay.

my feed today: apple: it’s fucking over microsoft: it’s fucking over supreme court: it’s fucking over video game devs: it’s fucking over Wario64: undertale $2.49 on steam rn

Please help defend Minnesota heroes who tried to thwart the ICE gestapo, and often succeeded!! They're being persecuted by this authoritarian clownshow Dept. of Justice. bsky.app/profile/bill...

Actually, we *should* be able to expect the president of the United States to be able to restrain himself from personally threatening to kill the negotiators from another country. It's not that unreasonable at all, you pathetic toady.

Pretty menacing image of Crow T. Robot here

A MASSIVE inspiration for me. I grabbed all the @discotekmedia.bsky.social releases the moment they dropped.

Sick of this crap? Us too. Hit us up. 💪 uvw-cwa.org

(Not so fun fact) living in constant fear of losing your livelihood, does not, in fact, result in great or meaningful art.

If you like the non-AI silly account that is @tes-itemsbot.bsky.social , that does madlibs-style items and quests in Elder Scrolls style, please consider sharing. Kyle made and has been running that account for a while.

And I’ll just add that MST3K could not be made today, either. Okay, admittedly, you probably could make it today, and now that I think of it, we ARE making new episodes today, and they’re coming soon, but I wanna be an old guy complaining about shit, too!

it would benefit all of us to unionize because literally none of us have job security in this industry. you can work at a company for 10+ years and they will stay lay you off like you’re nothing. it shouldn’t be like this

it is officially happening TODAY at 6:30 est. link in first paragraph.

ABOLISH AND PROSECUTE ICE. THERE IS NO MOVING FORWARD WITHOUT TRIALS.

we are once again asking for badder bitches