The sad story behind Bethesda's big Fallout announcement
Following sudden job terminations at its Montreal office, the Bethesda Game Studios union is taking legal action against the company over alleged labor law violations.
The Bethesda Game Studios union says it is taking legal action against Bethesda because the company is still breaking labor laws in Canada. The union says Bethesda ended the jobs of Canadian employees too early on July 17. This happened on the same day the company shared big news about the future of the Fallout series and other games.
Many people thought the timing was strange. Less than two weeks after Xbox announced that it was cutting 3,200 jobs and closing four studios, Bethesda revealed that Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas are getting remastered versions. The company also confirmed that Obsidian is making a new Fallout game and that Fallout 5 is already in early development.
These announcements made many fans excited. However, some people believed Bethesda released all of this news to take attention away from the recent job cuts.
The OneBGS union said the announcements were used to distract people while employees at the Montreal office suddenly lost their jobs much earlier than they had been promised. The union also said the workers did not receive a severance package that had been discussed.
The union explained that on July 6, many Bethesda employees in the United States and Canada were told during a video meeting that they would lose their jobs. At that time, they were told they would stay employed until September while the company and the union discussed severance. This gave workers some time to prepare.
However, on the evening of July 17, the Canadian employees who worked on the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls teams received emails saying that their jobs had ended immediately. The union said this was different from what the workers had been told earlier.
According to the letters, the employees would only receive the minimum severance required by law. This included eight weeks of pay instead of notice, payment for any unused vacation days, and nothing more. They also lost their health insurance benefits right away.
Before July 17, the Communications Workers of America and CWA Canada had already filed a legal complaint against Microsoft. Carmel Smyth, the President of CWA Canada, said Microsoft had fired workers without giving the union proper notice or discussing the decision first. She said this was against the law because the company and the union were still negotiating a collective agreement.
Smyth also said the union would continue taking legal action if needed. The OneBGS union confirmed that it has now filed another legal complaint. The union ended its statement by saying that Bethesda and Xbox leaders earn millions because of the work done by employees. It said workers should not continue paying the price for mistakes made by management and that this situation must come to an end.
Many people thought the timing was strange. Less than two weeks after Xbox announced that it was cutting 3,200 jobs and closing four studios, Bethesda revealed that Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas are getting remastered versions. The company also confirmed that Obsidian is making a new Fallout game and that Fallout 5 is already in early development.
These announcements made many fans excited. However, some people believed Bethesda released all of this news to take attention away from the recent job cuts.
The OneBGS union said the announcements were used to distract people while employees at the Montreal office suddenly lost their jobs much earlier than they had been promised. The union also said the workers did not receive a severance package that had been discussed.
The union explained that on July 6, many Bethesda employees in the United States and Canada were told during a video meeting that they would lose their jobs. At that time, they were told they would stay employed until September while the company and the union discussed severance. This gave workers some time to prepare.
However, on the evening of July 17, the Canadian employees who worked on the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls teams received emails saying that their jobs had ended immediately. The union said this was different from what the workers had been told earlier.
According to the letters, the employees would only receive the minimum severance required by law. This included eight weeks of pay instead of notice, payment for any unused vacation days, and nothing more. They also lost their health insurance benefits right away.
Before July 17, the Communications Workers of America and CWA Canada had already filed a legal complaint against Microsoft. Carmel Smyth, the President of CWA Canada, said Microsoft had fired workers without giving the union proper notice or discussing the decision first. She said this was against the law because the company and the union were still negotiating a collective agreement.
Smyth also said the union would continue taking legal action if needed. The OneBGS union confirmed that it has now filed another legal complaint. The union ended its statement by saying that Bethesda and Xbox leaders earn millions because of the work done by employees. It said workers should not continue paying the price for mistakes made by management and that this situation must come to an end.
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