Xbox CEO welcomed with giant rat, layoff graveyard in visit to Bethesda offices

Leaders at Xbox were recently welcomed to Bethesda's offices by Scabby, a giant inflatable rat.

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Bethesda workers aren't taking Microsoft's layoffs lightly. The tech giant recently laid off 1,600 workers at its Xbox games division, and another 1,600 will lose their jobs by June 2027. Faced with this very real Sword of Damocles above their heads, the remaining Bethesda devs have set up an unignorable protest to meet Xbox CEO Asha Sharma on her latest visit to the studio: Scabby the rat.

Workers at Bethesda, who voted to unionize in 2024, erected Scabby, a huge, air-filled rat to make a clear statement to Sharma (and the rest of the industry). Scabby is famously used by trade unions in protest of unfair practices and layoffs. Bethesda employees also created a kind of layoff graveyard using small red flags poked into the lawn, and there's one red flag for every person let go.

Meanwhile, Sharma posted about her visit to Bethesda on Twitter, using the opportunity to hype up The Elder Scrolls VI.

Bethesda union member Nathan Hahn gave a statement about the protest:

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Question #1

Why did Bethesda employees display the inflatable rat 'Scabby' during Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's visit?

They erected Scabby as a visible union protest against recent layoffs and to make a clear statement to Xbox leadership about how developers have been impacted. Scabby is famously used by trade unions to protest unfair practices and layoffs, and Bethesda workers also planted a red-flag "layoff graveyard" with one flag for each person let go to underscore the losses.

Answered

Question #2

What restrictions did Bethesda management reportedly place on employees’ protest materials inside the office?

According to the article, management told employees they could not have posters facing the outside of their cubicles. Workers then put up balloons, but were instructed to keep them inside their cubes rather than visible outside.

Answered

Question #3

What is the significance of Scabby in union and labor protests as mentioned in the article?

Scabby is a giant inflatable rat famously used by trade unions to protest unfair practices and layoffs. Bethesda workers erected Scabby to make a clear, unignorable statement to Xbox leadership about the impact of recent layoffs and to signal union opposition to those actions.

Answered

Question #4

How does the article link Bethesda’s 2024 union vote to the protest actions during the Xbox CEO visit?

The article states that Bethesda workers, who voted to unionize in 2024, erected the giant inflatable rat Scabby and created a layoff graveyard of red flags to make a visible protest for Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s visit. It presents the union vote as context for organized actions, posters, balloons inside cubes, and the planted flags, intended to show how developers were impacted by recent layoffs.

Answered

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"We heard that Microsoft leadership was coming to our office this week, and decided to make our presence visible at the office to show how our developers have been impacted by these devastating layoffs.

"To show our presence, we put up posters around the office, but we were immediately told by management we couldn't have posters facing the outside of our cubes. Then, we brought in balloons so that they could see we were here, but inside our cubes this time.

"A separate team of laid off developers planted flags outside, one flag for each laid off dev. Each flag was a public reminder of how many people management cut from our teams - not just our colleagues and coworkers, but our friends at the end of the day."