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Doom’s John Romero confirms his new FPS is saved after Xbox abandoned it
John Romero says Romero Games has found a new publisher for its first-person shooter after Xbox abandoned the project and the studio faced major redundancies. The game is being redesigned for a much smaller team, allowing development to continue while preserving some of the original work.
The studio’s staff fell from 110 people to five, before 10 former team members, including leads from different sub-teams, returned. Romero says the original game was too large to complete with the reduced team, so the new version will be a different, smaller project that reuses existing art, weapons and other work. He has not named the publisher, which he describes as giving the studio creative freedom.
In short
- Romero Games has secured a new publisher for its FPS.
- The project is being redesigned for a smaller team.
- Ten former staff members have returned.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Finding a new publisher and redesigning the game could preserve valuable work and give a small team a realistic path to finish it. A smaller scope may also allow Romero Games to retain creative control while bringing the project to players, rather than abandoning it after Xbox’s withdrawal.
The case against
A major redesign after the original project lost its publisher and most of its staff may leave little of the original game intact, while the studio’s sharply reduced team could face substantial pressure to deliver. With the new publisher and terms undisclosed, it is difficult to know whether the arrangement offers durable support or whether the project’s prospects have truly improved.
Explained simply
John Romero is a game designer best known for helping create Doom, a landmark series of fast-paced first-person shooters. He later founded Romero Games, a studio that began work on a new shooter with backing from Xbox, Microsoft’s gaming business.
When Xbox stopped supporting the project, Romero Games lost most of its staff. The studio is now continuing with a smaller team and a new publisher, whose identity has not been announced. The game is being reshaped to fit the team’s size, while drawing on work already created.