GoKawiilOneBSG, the union that represents game studio Bethesda's workers, has filed a legal complaint against Bethesda on claims that it broke labor laws in Canada when it laid off employees in Montreal. In a post on Bluesky, OneBSG alleged that workers were initially told that they would remain employed "until September while the company negotiated severance with our union," only to have the company send termination letters at the end of that week that offered "the bare legal minimum in terms of severance."
Bethesda Games Studios' Montreal workers are being treated especially poorly by XBOX and we won't stand for it. Here are the details. If this upsets you let Microsoft know: feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/ide... — OneBGS – Bethesda Game Studios Union (@bethesdaunion.bsky.social) 2026-07-22T14:50:07.511Z
Bethesda made deep cuts as part of Xbox's sweeping plans to lay off more than 3,000 people starting this summer. The studio makes several popular game franchises, and it has laid out what fans can expect from future Fallout and Elder Scrolls titles following the cuts.
This isn't the first legal action against Xbox and parent company Microsoft as they've downsized. Microsoft has already been accused of bargaining in bad faith by the Communication Workers of America on behalf of employees in the US and Canada.