Giant Inflatable Rat Crashes Internal Elder Scrolls 6 Preview

A curious contrast at Bethesda: While Xbox head Asha Sharma described The Elder Scrolls 6 as “incredible” in an internal preview, unionized employees erected a giant inflatable rat directly outside the studio building in Rockville, Maryland. The timing was no coincidence, but a deliberately placed protest during the corporate showcase.

According to reports from Eurogamer and Video Games Chronicle, the action aimed to draw attention to ongoing discontent over previous layoff waves at Bethesda. The message: major announcements for one of the most anticipated Elder Scrolls titles ever should not obscure the fact that jobs have been cut within the same corporation.

Why a rat, specifically?

In the USA, the inflatable rat is a decades-old protest symbol of the labor movement. It is traditionally erected outside company buildings when employee representatives want to accuse a company of unfair behavior towards its workforce. The fact that such a protest took place specifically before an internal Xbox meeting for one of the most important RPGs of the coming years shows how strained the relationship between parts of the Bethesda workforce and Microsoft's corporate management continues to be.

Not an isolated incident at Xbox studios

The protest is part of a longer series of tensions between Xbox studios and their employees. Just a few days ago, we reported on layoffs at Halo Studios after the launch of Campaign Evolved – also an Xbox-owned studio. The rat outside Bethesda shows that job security is a concern for employees across various studios, while corporate leadership simultaneously promotes new blockbusters like Elder Scrolls 6.

For players, the incident itself doesn't immediately change anything about the development of Elder Scrolls 6 – a release date has still not been announced. From our perspective, however, the action is a remarkable signal: The closer major Xbox titles get to their reveal or release, the louder the voices from their own workforce apparently become, wanting to point out structural problems. This is likely to continue to affect Microsoft in the coming months, especially when TES6 is officially presented.

Source: Eurogamer, Video Games Chronicle

What do you think of the action – justified protest or ill-timed? Discuss with us in the comments.