ZeniMax Online Studios head Matt Firor to depart after 18 years

Following the announcement of the closure of Zenimax Online Studios’ long-in-development MMO yesterday as part of the sweeping Microsoft layoffs, studio president Matt Firor has announced he will be leaving the company later this month.

In a statement shared by the Zenimax Online Studios account on X, Firor said that the studio and The Elder Scrolls Online will be “in great hands” under the direction of new studio head Jo Burba, executive producer Susan Kath and game director Rich Lambert.

“While I won’t be working on the game anymore, I will be cheering you on and adding to the thousands of hours I’ve already spent in-game,” he added.

“There are many more stories to be told, adventures to be had, and I know this amazing community will carry that shared legacy and success forwards.”

Firor has headed the studio since its founding in 2007. The studio is responsible for The Elder Scrolls Online, which launched in 2014.

Yesterday, Bloomberg reported the cancellation of an MMORPG codenamed ‘Blackbird’ that had been in development at Zenimax Online Studios since 2018. Since then, many staff at the studio have announced on social media that they are now looking for work after being laid off.

“I honestly don’t know what to say,” said creative services manager Landon Hood on LinkedIn. “I am still processing. I poured my soul and passion into this company, and we created some AMAZING things together. I am utterly heartbroken that this is how it ended.”

Sources told IGN that pre-production on the new MMO had apparently been going well, and that “the team was actively ramping up in the hope of moving into full production soon”. Some people had reportedly been moved onto the project from Arkane Austin, which was closed in May 2024.

Last year, Firor reflected on ten years of The Elder Scrolls Online in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re still very successful,” he said. “We just announced we’re about to cross the $2 billion lifetime for the game, which is frankly amazing and a huge milestone. It’s going great.”