The gaming industry woke up to a stunning blow today. Right as a major new expansion launches for the latest entry in the iconic Doom franchise, news broke that its legendary developer, id Software, has been hit by devastating layoffs. Reports indicate that Microsoft has chopped the studio’s workforce roughly in half.
According to Game Developer, multiple anonymous sources confirmed that over 90 employees out of a staff of roughly 200 have been let go. The cuts severely impacted the Quality Assurance (QA) department. Industry veterans are buzzing with rumors that even the core coding team—the technical engine that powers id’s proprietary software—took a massive hit.
A painful blow to a legendary team in gaming
The news feels particularly jarring given the studio’s recent momentum. Just in May, the developer celebrated its biggest launch ever with Doom: The Dark Ages. The game pulled in 3 million players during its first week.
Former staff members have turned to social media to express their frustration. Affected engineer Michael Maynard confirmed the 50% figure on LinkedIn. He criticized Xbox management for letting go of top-tier talent despite the team creating some of the best first-person engine technology in the business.
The downsizing is even tougher for fans to swallow because of the studio’s history. The id Software studio is a pioneer of the first-person shooter genre with Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake. It has long been admired for its programming prowess. Most AAA studios now use external engines, but id keeps its tech native running its games on id Tech 8.
Even id Software co-founder John Romero voiced his support for the displaced developers. He described the entire situation as a strange and painful thing to experience.
I’m so sorry for everyone at id Software affected by these layoffs.
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… pic.twitter.com/jxFFJ2bsFq
— John Romero
(@romero) July 7, 2026
Restructuring under the Xbox umbrella
The downsizing at id Software is part of a much broader reset at Microsoft. The tech giant wiped out 1,600 roles across Xbox on Monday alone. This is additional to 1,600 cuts scheduled over the upcoming fiscal year.
In an internal email leaked to IGN, Bethesda president Jill Braff explained that the company is shifting away from a model centered around what is next for independent studios. Instead, leadership wants to focus heavily on its absolute strongest intellectual properties and build a unified content roadmap.
Paradoxically, while executive leadership wants to double down on core franchises like Doom, Fallout, and The Elder Scrolls, they are drastically reducing the team sizes of the very studios responsible for creating them.
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