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Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99Subscribe now Essential Hardware Dune: Awakening PC Gaming Show Recommended reading Gaming Industry Lost Records developer Don't Nod confirms layoffs at its Montreal studio Gaming Industry All System Dance developer announces layoffs 'due to financial challenges' Gaming Industry RuneScape studio Jagex confirms layoffs 'to reduce complexity, increase agility, and ensure we are fully focused on the areas that matter most' Gaming Industry Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic confirms layoffs: 'The landscape is shifting, and with it, so must we' Gaming Industry 'There has to be a better way than this': Game developers call Microsoft's latest layoffs 'a colossal waste of talent' from a publisher that seems like it's in 'a death spiral' Gaming Industry MindsEye's catastrophic launch to be followed by layoffs at former GTA producer's studio The Elder Scrolls Devs lament Oblivion Remastered's surprise release as Todd Howard eats their lunch: 'I noticed a complete stop in game sales from about 2 pm onward on Oblivion day' Gaming Industry Oblivion Remastered Oblivion Remastered studio is reportedly laying off 300 people Jody Macgregor 17 July 2025 Make a game that doesn't sell? Laid off. Make one of the best-selling games of the year? Would you believe it, also laid off. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Bethesda) ‪Gauthier 'Gautoz' Andres, co-founder of French videogame website Origami, has reported on Bluesky that "Mass layoffs are underway at Virtuos, the studio behind Oblivion Remastered and the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Δ." Virtuos is a co-development studio that has contributed to everything from Dark Souls Remastered to Age of Mythology Retold, and is currently working with CD Projekt Red on the neverending cycle of Cyberpunk 2077 updates. It's got offices around the world and apparently enough staff that the 300 people Andres reports are at risk make up only "7% of the workforce". Still, it's got to be rough to be one of the people waiting to hear the bad news when you worked on Oblivion Remastered, one of the year's best-selling games. "Virtuos is said to have made significant efforts on Oblivion," Andres writes, via Google Translate, "with a policy of over-quality relative to the budget and a contract without royalties (without bonuses indexed to the game's success). The result: teams put to the test for a purely showcase game, doomed to see its profitability questioned." Related Articles Lost Records developer Don't Nod confirms layoffs at its Montreal studio All System Dance developer announces layoffs 'due to financial challenges' RuneScape studio Jagex confirms layoffs 'to reduce complexity, increase agility, and ensure we are fully focused on the areas that matter most' Maybe in another climate that would have worked out, with enough new projects won on the back of that success to keep the ball rolling. But given that even a successful company like Microsoft is laying off 9,000 people, presumably there aren't as many of those big co-development projects going as you might have expected back when you signed the contract. Regarding the "contract without royalties", over on Resetera an ex-employee of Virtuos explained there are "almost never" royalties for projects like this, because if a studio insists on them they'll be underbid by one that doesn't. It really sounds like a lose-lose deal. You put in the work on a portfolio-enhancing project, and still lose your job because the industry decides to have another year of belt-tightening. Just another foolproof way to get laid off in the games industry, I guess. Oblivion console commands: Cheats new and old Oblivion lockpicks: Where and how to use them Oblivion vampirism cure: Rid yourself of the affliction Oblivion thieves guild: How to join the crew Oblivion persuasion: Master the minigame The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Jody Macgregor Social Links Navigation Weekend/AU Editor Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Lost Records developer Don't Nod confirms layoffs at its Montreal studio All System Dance developer announces layoffs 'due to financial challenges' RuneScape studio Jagex confirms layoffs 'to reduce complexity, increase agility, and ensure we are fully focused on the areas that matter most' Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic confirms layoffs: 'The landscape is shifting, and with it, so must we' 'There has to be a better way than this': Game developers call Microsoft's latest layoffs 'a colossal waste of talent' from a publisher that seems like it's in 'a death spiral' MindsEye's catastrophic launch to be followed by layoffs at former GTA producer's studio Latest in Gaming Industry After leaving Ubisoft to launch an anime avatar AI/NFT startup, Yves Guillemot's son returns to take charge of its new Tencent-backed Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow 6 subsidiary Unknown Worlds founders' lawsuit accuses Krafton of a 'months-long campaign to delay Subnautica 2' so it wouldn't have to pay $250M earnout Microsoft's 200 laid-off King devs are reportedly being replaced by AI they helped build, while its 'absolute 's***show' HR department looks away and whistles 'A future has been stolen from many of us and our community will never experience an amazing game': Microsoft MMO devs respond to cancelation of project Phil Spencer reportedly loved 'A game, once sold, belongs to the customer': Prominent EU politician stands up for Stop Killing Games OpenAI is making its own browser, presumably to spite Google and cut out the middleman when collecting user data Latest in News After leaving Ubisoft to launch an anime avatar AI/NFT startup, Yves Guillemot's son returns to take charge of its new Tencent-backed Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow 6 subsidiary An absolute Elden Ring madlad just soloed Nightreign's most-hated boss at level 1 with the power of Sekiro parries Unknown Worlds founders' lawsuit accuses Krafton of a 'months-long campaign to delay Subnautica 2' so it wouldn't have to pay $250M earnout Umamusume players are engaging in unhinged summoning rituals to enlist the aid of Egyptian gods and biblically accurate angels for the release of a really good horse card Seven months after putting Johnny Silverhand in your car, Cyberpunk 2077's latest update will let you kick him out Reddit just had a meltdown for a moment: 'no content to display' on any subreddits, before deploying a server fix in surely record time HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new generation head-to-head and we have a winner Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Thermaltake S100 TG Snow Edition review Cooler Master Hyper 212 Pro review Razer Pro Click V2 Vertical Edition review Keychron M7 8K Wireless review Corsair MAKR 75 keyboard review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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