Key takeaways
- Approximately half of id Software's workforce was laid off in July, just 24 hours before the studio launched Doom: The Dark Ages expansion.
- Studio co-director Marty Stratton claimed the studio remains 'viable' across game development and technology, though engineers questioned whether such confidence was warranted.
- Veteran programmer Chris Hays stated that developing AAA games with half the staff was 'impossible,' directly contradicting leadership's public optimism.
- Collaboration with MachineGames on shared id Tech development was framed as a longer-term strategy that could be key to both studios' future AAA projects.
The summer restructuring at Xbox Game Studios delivered a significant blow to id Software, one of the industry’s most storied studios. In July, the company let go of approximately half its workforce, a decision made with particular unfortunate timing—the layoffs occurred just 24 hours before the studio released its expansion to Doom: The Dark Ages. The move raised immediate concerns about the studio’s ability to sustain ongoing development across its major franchises and maintain the institutional knowledge built up over decades.
Accounting for the Losses
The scale of id Software’s cuts was substantial enough to warrant concern from industry observers and insiders alike. Entire departments within the studio saw significant reductions, according to reporting from Kotaku and other outlets. This wasn’t a gradual downsizing or targeted restructuring, but rather a sweeping reduction that removed roughly 50 percent of the studio’s personnel in a single day.
The timing only magnified the disruption. Launching a major expansion to one of the studio’s flagship franchises while simultaneously announcing that half the team was being let go created a jarring disconnect between company messaging and operational reality. The expansion itself was meant to be a milestone moment for Doom: The Dark Ages, yet it arrived amid institutional chaos.
Leadership’s Claims of Viability
Despite the scale of the cuts, studio co-director Marty Stratton presented a notably optimistic view of id Software’s prospects. Speaking to media at a press event earlier in the week, according to IGN, Stratton stated, “We’re doing great. Not to handwave the [layoffs] away…everybody knows we had about half of our studio exit as part of that. But there was a very deliberate effort to make sure that we were incredibly viable coming out of that across everything we do, across game development and technology department.”
Stratton’s framing emphasized intentionality in the decision-making process. The implication was that while the cuts were severe, they had been structured to preserve critical capabilities and maintain the studio’s competitiveness in AAA game development.
Historical Comparisons
id Software pushed back against some of the more dire predictions about its future capacity by drawing a historical comparison. The studio argued that its current state was roughly equivalent to where it stood when it shipped Doom 2016 nearly a decade ago. The logic seemed to be that if the studio could build a landmark title with a smaller team then, it could do so again now.
The id Tech Question
One of the central uncertainties surrounding id Software’s future revolved around its proprietary game engine, id Tech. This engine forms the technical foundation for the studio’s renowned first-person shooters. The question of whether the engine could be maintained and advanced with a significantly reduced engineering team became a major point of discussion both inside and outside the studio.
The Engineering Reality
Not everyone inside id Software shared Stratton’s optimism about the studio’s prospects. Chris Hays, a veteran programmer at the company, offered a much bleaker assessment in August. When discussing the challenges of developing AAA games with half the staff, Hays stated, “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.” Hays’ characterization suggested that the gap between what Stratton was publicly claiming and what engineers believed was actually achievable had become quite substantial.
The apparent disagreement between leadership’s public statements and veteran engineers’ private assessments reflected a common tension in the gaming industry during periods of rapid restructuring. Studios often face pressure to project confidence and stability for investors, partners, and the public, even when those working within the organization harbor serious doubts.
A Technology Partnership as Potential Solution
As part of efforts to navigate the post-layoff landscape, id Software has been moving closer to MachineGames, another studio within the Xbox portfolio that has been working on an unannounced Wolfenstein 3. MachineGames uses a different fork of id Tech for its projects, meaning both studios have access to separate versions of the underlying technology.
Closer Collaboration
Stratton characterized the partnership in notably enthusiastic terms when speaking to media this week. “We’re working more closely with MachineGames than ever,” he said, according to reporting. “We’ve always had a very close partnership with them, but I think we’re at a point with technology development that both teams are incredibly talented and have incredibly talented engineers and we’re really on an amazing path that had started pre-[layoffs]. We’d kicked this off earlier this year. We’re really excited about that. We’re both really really bullish on what we have ahead.”
The comments suggested that the collaboration wasn’t a direct response to the layoffs but rather part of a longer-term technology strategy that predated the cuts. If both studios could effectively pool resources and engineering talent around id Tech development, the reasoning went, both could benefit.
The Uncertain Future
The immediate future of id Software remains dependent on how the broader Xbox restructuring unfolds. According to Kotaku’s reporting, Xbox has approximately a quarter of its planned reset still to complete, with additional rounds of layoffs scheduled for November and January. This means the turbulence affecting game development at Microsoft isn’t finished, and further staff reductions could still impact id Software or other studios.
What those additional cuts might look like, and how they might affect franchises like Doom, remains unclear. For now, the studio is navigating the contradiction between its leadership’s public confidence and the serious reservations of its engineering staff about what’s actually achievable with a substantially reduced team.
Source: Kotaku
Frequently Asked Questions
When did id Software's layoffs occur relative to Doom: The Dark Ages?
The layoffs took place in July, approximately 24 hours before the studio released Doom: The Dark Ages expansion.
How many more layoffs is Xbox planning?
According to Kotaku, Xbox has roughly a quarter of its planned reset remaining, with additional rounds of layoffs scheduled for November and January.
How are id Software and MachineGames collaborating after the layoffs?
Both studios are working more closely on technology development around id Tech. MachineGames uses a separate fork of id Tech for the unannounced Wolfenstein 3. The partnership was described as a longer-term strategy that began before the layoffs.
