Zenimax Online's staff have just suffered a round of layoffs, but publisher Bethesda says the situation won't affect the continuing development of MMO The Elder Scrolls Online.
"As is the norm for games of this type, we had ramped up a large workforce to develop a game of vast scale, and ramped up our customer service to handle the expected questions and community needs of The Elder Scrolls Online at launch," Bethesda's PR head Pete Hines told Joystiq.
“Now that we are nearly six months post launch," he continued, "we have a thriving online community in a game that runs smoothly.” Hines goes on to claim that Zenimax still has a large team hard at work on the title, and that they are continuing to plan for and produce new content.
"We remain strongly committed to The Elder Scrolls Online," he said, "and continue to invest heavily to develop new content for PC players, prepare the game for its console launch, and handle our planned expansion into important international territories. As for customer service, we continue to operate large support centers in Hunt Valley, MD and Galway, Ireland."
ESO's next update will take players to the high-level area of Upper Craglorn, where they'll be able to take on a bunch of new quests and dungeon delves. There's also a new group challenge, the Dragonstar Arena, which rewards groups of adventurers who can survive a wave of enemies. It's coming soon, and you can check out the trailer above.