The OneBGS union, representing employees of Bethesda Game Studios, has officially accused the studio of violating Canadian labor laws. The trigger for this sharp statement was the severance conditions, which employees learned about on July 17 — the very same day Xbox presented major announcements regarding the Fallout universe to the world.
The Gap Between Promises and Reality
The situation began on July 6, when dozens of Bethesda Game Studios employees from the US and Canada received notification of their termination via video call. They were informed that they would retain their jobs until September while the company negotiated severance terms with the union.
However, 11 days later, reality proved different. Canadian developers working on Fallout and Elder Scrolls projects received emails with official termination notices. The documents stated that employees would receive "the minimum severance package possible by law without union negotiations".
Effectively, this amounted to payment for eight weeks instead of the statutory notice period, plus compensation for accrued vacation time. Meanwhile, health insurance was cancelled immediately. This decision directly contradicted verbal promises from management and hit workers at a moment when they hoped for the protection of their rights.
Union Response and Community Reaction
OneBGS immediately filed a complaint with the relevant authorities, labeling Bethesda's and Xbox leadership's actions as a systemic violation of labor standards. The union statement emphasizes that employees are used to generate profit and then "discarded" when their labor is no longer needed.
"The cycle where workers pay for management's mistakes ends here," stated union representatives.
These events unfold against the backdrop of massive layoffs at Microsoft, affecting approximately 1,600 employees in the gaming division. Simultaneously, the company announced that Fallout 5 is in pre-production, remasters of Fallout 3 and New Vegas are in the works, and Obsidian Entertainment is developing its own Fallout universe game.
The public reaction from the community was mixed: many players interpreted the coincidence of announcements and layoffs as a deliberately chosen moment to distract attention from internal company problems.
Call to Action
The union has called on players to leave feedback on the Xbox Player Voice page and convey to Microsoft that such treatment of workers is unacceptable. OneBGS hopes that public pressure will help change the situation and protect employees' rights in the future.
