Doom maker id Software is one of the studios facing cutbacks as part the most “significant” restructuring in Xbox’s history. Layoffs there sound particularly bad, and it’s unclear what the iconic studio’s future will hold. Amid the heartbreak, studio co-founder and original Doom designer John Romero shared his condolences and a plea for the preservation of gaming history.
“I’m so sorry for everyone at id Software affected by these layoffs,” he wrote on X on July 7. “I know what it feels like to leave id while id goes on. It’s a strange and painful thing to step away from a place that holds so much of your work, friendships and history. The people at id have done a great job moving that legacy forward. DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein are not easy names to carry on, especially in today’s industry. The last few games showed real care, skill and respect for what those worlds mean to people.”
He continued, “A note on digital preservation: id’s history is critically important to the history of games. I’ve preserved id’s complete early history from our start at Softdisk through to August 6, 1996, including materials and assets that, as far as I know, id itself no longer has. I hope someone is doing the same for the company’s ongoing legacy (the work, code, assets, stories and the people behind them). I’m thinking of everyone at id today, and everyone else affected by yesterday’s layoffs. Romero Games was there a year ago. I know how devastating it is, and my heart’s with all of you.”
The message came amid concerns that cuts were particularly heavy at the Texas-based studio. Game Developer reports that some sources are saying roughly half the team there has been laid off. Ex-Bethesda Game Studios lead Jeff Gardiner suggested it could be as many as 95. The studio released Doom: The Dark Ages just last year. Several employees posted about having their roles terminated on LinkedIn.
“Yes, I was part of the team (roughly 50% of the company) that was let go today,” wrote systems programmer Michael Maynard, who’d been at the studio since 2005. “(I was there for OVER 20 years! RAGE through DOOM: Dark Ages) Sad but, I’ve been doing this (video games) for over 40 years so, not a huge surprise to me. Just really sad that this is how Id Software, the PIONEER/INNOVATOR of FPS action games is relegated to just another ‘reorganization’ of assets.”
The cuts to the Doom maker come as Xbox shifts away from the independence of its studios and toward more of a focus on its best-selling franchises. “To best position Bethesda for future growth, we are shifting from a planning model primarily centered on what’s next for each independent studio to one that focuses on our strongest franchises and determining the content roadmap that best serves our players and Bethesda as a whole,” Bethesda boss Jill Braff wrote to staff yesterday, according to IGN.
id Software was founded back in 1991 by Romero, John Carmack, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack. Much of its early days are chronicled in books like Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture and Romero’s own Doom Guy: Life in First Person. Romero Games was working on a new project when it reportedly lost its publishing contract with Microsoft during the last round of major layoffs there in 2025. Its cofounder, Brenda Romero, said earlier this year that “we were there in the ’80s for the crash, and this is definitely crashier.”
John Romero said it’s in his will that all of the documentation he saved from id Software and other places he’s worked will be donated to The Strong National Museum of Play when he dies.
