While Xbox reportedly has no intent of giving up on Doom and Quake, the same apparently doesn’t apply to id Software. Sources speaking to Game Developer claim that 90 employees have been paid, with the QA department apparently “decimated.” Overall, about 50 percent of the studio has been cut.
That figure is very close to claims of 95 layoffs by Jeff Gardiner, a former Bethesda Studios project lead. Apogee and 3D Realms founder Scott Miller also heard that “most (if not all) coders” have been let go.
It’s all the more tragic because DOOM: The Dark Ages received its massive new expansion, Revelations, today on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Promising some of the studio’s “best work yet,” it may be the last major project in the franchise for a long time.
The layoffs are part of Xbox’s recent “reset” plan, resulting in 1,600 employees immediately leaving, with 1,600 more to follow in fiscal year 2027. Besides ZeniMax Online Studios and The Elder Scrolls Online team, Bethesda has seen numerous departures, with studio head Jill Braff reportedly stating that the team needed to “change course.”
It apparently means focusing on its “strongest franchises,” though it’s unknown whether that means putting everyone on The Elder Scrolls and Fallout as previous rumors claim. For now, id Software’s fate is seemingly sealed, and it may continue to exist in name only for the foreseeable future.
