Modiphius delays Wolfenstein RPG amid swaths of Microsoft layoffs
Would-be Blazkowiczes will need to wait until next year.
Wolfenstein: The Roleplaying Game, Modiphius Entertainment’s analog adaptation of MachineGames’ alt-history first-person shooters, has been delayed until at least next year. The London-based tabletop publisher previously announced the project in March this year in collaboration with the video game series’ developer, along with license holder Bethesda, and pointed hopeful players towards an upcoming Gamefound campaign.
Modiphius head of brand Samantha Webb offered little comment to Rascal beyond confirmation of the publisher’s fall 2026 timeline being pushed: "Evaluating our work on the RPG as it stands, and speaking to our partners at MachineGames and Bethesda, we thought it best to give ourselves a bit more time and delay the crowdfunding campaign until 2027."
Both MachineGames and Bethesda are owned by ZeniMax, which is itself owned by Microsoft’s Xbox division. If you haven’t heard, Microsoft is currently “restructuring,” according to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma in a July memo, to the tune of at least 3,200 workers laid off across all of its Matroshkya dolled subsidiaries. ZeniMax and Bethesda have reportedly been hit, though exact numbers of axed staff remain unclear — and MachineGames might well be affected. The creative talent lost and teams either decimated or fully cut loose is a dizzying blow to an already aggrieved video games industry.
Modiphius would not confirm if Microsoft’s waves of layoffs had anything to do with delaying development or crowdfunding for Wolfenstein: The Roleplaying Game. Rascal reached out to Bethesda and MachineGames for comment but did not immediately receive a reply.
Modiphius
As video game outlets such as Aftermath and Kotaku wrote, Bethesda responded to this catastrophe of labor by jingling its keyring of popular franchises at prospective customers. While not mentioning nearly 400 cut jobs across Bethesda and Zenimax, director Todd Howard spilled a lot of ink reminding the public that The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and (to a lesser extent) Starfield were now their chief priorities. MachineGames has escaped explicit mention, perhaps saved by the critical and commercial success of 2024’s Indiana Jones and the Great Circle — though, even unalloyed achievement no longer saves creative teams in this environment.
Modiphius previously said that Wolfenstein: The Roleplaying Game would largely focus on two subtitled entries in the series, 2014's The New Order and 2017's The New Colossus, according to a press release. The title would make use of an adapted version Modiphius' 2d20 house system and put players in the role of resistance fighters arrayed against a Nazi party that managed to win World War II and take over the United States, along with many other parts of the world.
Where does this leave Modiphius and its Wolfenstein RPG? It’s hard to say with certainty. Working with licenses can be messy and complicated under the best circumstances, and otherwise healthy projects can be delayed, canceled, or thrown back to the drawing board by creative disagreements or any number of other reasons. Volatility and a lack of control come with the territory. For now, Terror Billy aspirants will need to keep their Tommy guns holstered for a while longer yet.
