Key takeaways
- id Software's veteran programmer Chris Hays claims it is 'impossible' to develop AAA games with half the studio's pre-layoff workforce.
- Hays accuses Xbox of providing management with talking points designed to hide the severity of cuts and prevent employee departures.
- Xbox cut 1,600 jobs in July and plans 1,600 more before year-end—approximately 20 percent of the company's total workforce.
Chris Hays has spent more than fifteen years building games at id Software. As the studio’s lead services programmer, he contributed to Doom Eternal and the recently released Doom: The Dark Ages. Yet the studio veteran has grown increasingly critical of the direction his employer has taken following Xbox’s massive July restructuring. In a recent interview with the Well Played podcast, Hays spoke candidly about the damage inflicted on id Software—comments that directly contradict the reassurances offered by Microsoft leadership.
The Core Issue: Building Games With Half a Team
The Impossibility Claim
Hays’s central argument is unambiguous: creating another blockbuster title on the scale of Doom (2016) with the current workforce is not merely difficult—it is impossible. “It is hard to make a game that is AAA that’s like we’ve done before with half the people. And by hard I mean impossible,” he stated in remarks that rapidly spread across social media.
This assertion directly contradicts the public position maintained by both Xbox and id Software leadership, who have claimed that the studio retains sufficient capabilities to continue developing major releases. Both have pointed to Doom (2016) as evidence that current staffing levels are adequate for flagship titles.
Lost Infrastructure and Departments
Hays’s critique extends beyond simple headcount reduction. According to him, entire organizational units have been eliminated. “It’s hard to make a game when there are entire departments that are gutted that you need. Entire disciplines that are gone,” he explained. This framing rejects the notion that layoffs simply reduce efficiency; instead, it suggests the studio’s fundamental creative architecture has been dismantled in ways that cannot be easily repaired.
The Management Narrative and Talking Points
Xbox’s Scripted Messaging
Hays revealed that id Software’s management has been provided with scripted language by Xbox—”talking points” designed to control the narrative around the studio’s condition and prospects. The purpose, he contends, is transparent: to prevent additional staff departures that might further cripple the studio.
“At the end of the day, most of it was just trying to tell us that, ‘oh no, everything is fine. And things will be okay,’” Hays stated during the podcast. Management representatives have been repeating the claim that the studio’s current size approximates the team that shipped Doom (2016), implying the studio can still deliver major releases.
The “Close To” Qualifier
When a podcast host challenged these claims by pointing to the extensive credits from Doom (2016)—a roster vastly larger than the current staff—Hays’s response was blunt. He highlighted that Xbox and id leadership use deliberately ambiguous language: they claim the studio is “close to” the Doom (2016) size, rather than claiming actual parity. “There is a reason they say close to, because it is less,” Hays stated.
The Game Pass Revenue Contradiction
Hays also addressed the peculiar business model dynamics created by Game Pass, Xbox’s subscription service offering day-one access to first-party titles. Since Xbox owns Bethesda, which owns id Software, all of the studio’s games arrive on Game Pass on release day. This means millions of Xbox and PC players have no financial incentive to purchase individual titles.
Yet Hays claims that despite this structural suppression of direct sales revenue, Xbox has criticized Bethesda’s sales performance. The contradiction is stark: the parent company operates a business model that actively discourages game purchases, then holds developers accountable for sales figures that the model itself undermines.
Xbox’s Fundamental Misunderstanding
Hays’s most severe criticism centers on what he views as Xbox’s categorical failure to understand how video games are actually created. He argues that company leadership lacks comprehension of both the artistic process and the practical realities of game development.
“If you cut half of a studio and don’t take into account how it’s made,” Hays said, “you don’t understand the cohesion between our teams was a part of what made it successful.” He is describing something that transcends budgets or simple resource management. Instead, he points to the collaborative interdependence that develops when teams work together over years across multiple departments, building institutional knowledge and creative synergy that cannot be instantly replicated through new hires.
The Broader July Restructuring
The Scope and Timeline of Cuts
The situation at id Software exists within a much larger organizational transformation at Xbox itself. In July, new Xbox boss Asha Sharma announced a sweeping restructure that would eliminate 1,600 jobs immediately, with another 1,600 positions scheduled for cuts before the end of the year. When the complete restructuring concludes, these layoffs will represent approximately 20 percent of Xbox’s entire workforce.
The cuts extended beyond simple staff reductions. Microsoft also divested itself of multiple studios it had acquired in recent years, including Double Fine and Compulsion Games.
Historical Significance
Sharma herself characterized the scope of the changes in stark historical terms, calling the layoffs and studio divestments “the most significant restructure in Xbox history.”
Questions About Long-Term Creative Capacity
The central tension raised by Hays’s remarks involves a fundamental question about the future: can id Software maintain its status as a creator of major AAA titles after losing approximately half its workforce? The studio’s recent completion of Doom: The Dark Ages suggests some capability remains. But if Hays’s assessment is accurate—that entire departments have been eliminated and essential disciplines removed—then the organizational machinery supporting game development at id has been fundamentally altered in ways that may not be recoverable.
The pattern Hays describes—cost-cutting measures prioritized over long-term creative sustainability—has emerged across multiple major publishers in recent years. Yet when a veteran with nearly two decades at one of gaming’s most prestigious studios breaks rank to argue that his employer’s future capacity has been severely compromised, it raises fundamental questions about whether Xbox’s financial restructuring will achieve its intended outcomes or instead damage the very studios and franchises the company depends on for revenue and industry credibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Chris Hays think developing AAA games is now impossible?
Hays says entire departments have been eliminated and entire disciplines removed from the studio. He argues that game development requires team cohesion built over years that cannot be quickly replaced through hiring.
What did Xbox leadership claim about the studio's future?
id Software management publicly stated the studio could develop major AAA games like Doom (2016), claiming the current workforce size was comparable. Hays disputes this, noting that management only says they are 'close to' the previous size—implying the studio is actually smaller.
How large was the broader Xbox restructuring?
Xbox laid off 1,600 employees in July and planned 1,600 more cuts before the end of the year, totaling approximately 20 percent of the company's workforce. New Xbox boss Asha Sharma called it 'the most significant restructure in Xbox history.'
