New state layoff notices are putting sharper numbers on Microsoft's latest Xbox cuts, including 158 jobs across ZeniMax teams in Texas and 52 jobs at Obsidian Entertainment in California.
Game File reports that the Texas figure comes from a WARN notice provided by state officials, while the California total comes from a WARN notice it received this morning. Both notices list September 4 as the official layoff date, though the Texas filing also includes union representation that could affect actual termination timing.
The Texas cuts cover 96 roles in Richardson, 40 remote roles tied to that office and 22 roles in Austin. Richardson is the publicly listed address for Doom studio id Software, though the report says the location also includes workers from other Bethesda groups. The Austin roles are also described as part of Bethesda's gaming team.
That makes the notice a more concrete follow-up to the broader Xbox layoff wave already hitting several first-party teams. Earlier reporting said id Software layoffs had affected around half the Doom studio, while Microsoft's wider gaming reset has also put ZeniMax, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls near the center of Xbox's next phase.
The Obsidian notice lists 52 cuts in California, split between 43 office-based roles and nine in-state remote workers. Obsidian, which Microsoft bought in 2018, is best known for RPGs and survival games including Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2 and Grounded 2.
The filings also show the spread of roles affected. In Texas, the impacted jobs include gameplay designers, an engine technology director, principal engine programmers, QA testers, senior QA testers, a senior skybox artist and producers. At Obsidian, the eliminated roles include art directors, a recruiter, a narrative designer and area designers.
Game File notes that roughly 146 of the 158 Texas ZeniMax positions are represented by the Communication Workers of America. A ZeniMax official reportedly said the company would negotiate with the union over the actual termination dates.
The numbers do not represent the full scale of Microsoft's gaming cuts. WARN notices are state-specific, so they do not include workers in other states or countries. The reported Texas and California layoffs sit inside a much larger Xbox downsizing, after company messaging cited 1,600 cuts announced by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and plans to eliminate 3,200 Microsoft gaming jobs by the end of June 2027.