Bethesda Montreal Union Fights Back After Layoffs, Cites "Bare Minimum" Severance

Employees at Bethesda's Montreal studio are pushing back hard following the latest round of mass Xbox layoffs, with the OneBGS union accusing Microsoft of offering the smallest legally permissible severance pay to affected workers. According to reports from Eurogamer and Game Developer, laid-off staff were told they would receive the "bare legal minimum" in severance, a move the union has described as deeply inadequate given the circumstances. To make matters worse, Microsoft allegedly cut off access to group benefits health insurance immediately after the layoffs, leaving employees without coverage at one of the most vulnerable moments in their careers.

The conflict has now escalated into formal legal territory. OneBGS filed an official complaint against Bethesda, accusing the company of "continuing to violate labour laws in Canada," as reported by GamesIndustry. The union has vowed to fight the dismissals and their terms, framing the situation as a broader pattern of behavior from Microsoft toward its gaming workforce. The Montreal studio's unionized employees are among the most vocal in the industry about worker protections, and this dispute is shaping up to be a significant test case for labor rights in the Canadian games sector.

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