The bad news in Microsoft’s gaming division continues to make waves on the Internet. Today, Bloomberg reports, via unnamed sources, that it is asking a number of current ZeniMax team members, including producers and QA testers, to take voluntary severance deals. This follows the closing of three former Bethesda-ZeniMax game development studios on Tuesday, along with the merger of additional staff into ZeniMax Online Studios.

Bloomberg’s report did not specify how many ZeniMax staff members took those severance deals. Microsoft did not respond to Bloomberg’s report. The company has not yet disclosed how many staff members lost their jobs on Tuesday.

Bloomberg also reported that before their shutdown, Tango Gameworks had put together a sequel to the acclaimed action game Hi-Fi Rush. It also noted that Arkan Austin was trying to pitch a new immersive single-player sim game to Microsoft, after releasing red fall in 2023.

Microsoft’s game executives tried to justify the new layoffs and studio closings in a town hall meeting with ZeniMax employees, according to Bloomberg. Xbox Game Studios head Matt Botti stated at the meeting that the ZeniMax division, with its previous nine studios, had spread like “peanut butter on bread.” ” and that Microsoft felt it was time to close some of the studios so that the resources could be better utilized.

Jill Braff, who is now head of Microsoft’s ZeniMax division, stated at the town hall meeting that “it’s hard to support nine studios all over the world with a lean core team with an ever-increasing variety of things to do.” She reportedly added, “I think we were about to capsize.”

Microsoft is also reportedly considering other means of increasing its gaming revenue, including ideas such as raising prices for the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate service and possibly offering additional games, such as the upcoming The Saga of Sanoa: Hellblade IIfor Sony’s PlayStation 5 console.