By Kotaku | Created at 2026-08-11 22:22:24 | Updated at 2026-08-11 23:18:03
2 hours ago
Earlier today, members of Xbox leadership, reportedly including CEO Asha Sharma, visited Bethesda’s office just a few weeks after laying off 1,600 workers across its studios. Sharma seemingly confirmed she was there today by posting her thoughts on how the long-awaited Elder Scrolls VI is looking after checking out a “live playthrough” of the RPG while a giant inflatable rat and unionized workers protested outside.
On August 11, Sharma tweeted her reactions to seeing The Elder Scrolls VI, an RPG that was announced back in 2018 via a small teaser, and it sounds like the game is coming along great. The CEO posted on Tuesday afternoon that the game’s “scale and grandeur are incredible” before adding that “the story is even greater.” This comes courtesy of a “live playthrough,” which sounds like she watched someone play it and didn’t actually get hands-on with the demo. But we can’t say.
Sharma’s tweet also included a censored subtitle for the upcoming Elder Scrolls VI. The subtitle seems to be eight letters long, assuming she is actually teasing its name and didn’t just add some random number of asterisks to the tweet. I expect Elder Scrolls fans will be spending the next few days figuring out what those eight letters could mean for the RPG sequel they’ve waited the better part of a decade to play.
Live playthrough of The Elder Scrolls VI: ******** this morning. The scale and grandeur are incredible. The story is even greater.
— ASHA (@asha_shar) August 11, 2026
Of course, it’s hard not to look at Sharma’s social media post about The Elder Scrolls VI as her trying to distract people from the ongoing issues many Xbox workers have with the company, and their public accusations about Game Pass, leadership’s decisions, and their plans for the future. She likely saw Scabby, a giant inflatable rat often brought out by labor unions to support striking workers or protests, sitting outside Bethesda’s Rockville, Maryland HQ earlier today.
NEW: CWA union members have inflated a giant rat and deployed a wall of red flags representing laid off Xbox workers outside the Bethesda office in Rockville.
The protest was timed to coincide with a visit from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who is apparently at the studio today.
— Chris Kerr (@kerrblimey.bsky.social) 2026-08-11T16:22:31.509Z
Perhaps sensing that the media and creators would cover that, she decided to toss an Elder Scrolls 6-sized news bomb into the world and hope that pulled attention away from the fact that Xbox plans to lay off 1,600 more workers before the end of this year.
Next week on August 18th, Xbox workers, in coordination with the Communications Workers of America, will hold rallies across the U.S. and Canada to protest the layoffs and demand fair contracts for union members that are likely to include layoff protections.
Don’t worry, Xbox and Bethesda have assured fans and critics that The Elder Scrolls VI won’t be affected by the massive layoffs at Xbox. However, not all devs at the company agree, with one id Software developer claiming Xbox “doesn’t understand art” or games in a recent podcast interview.
