id Software Disputes Reports of Severe Layoffs Following Xbox Cuts
Following last week's substantial workforce reductions at Xbox, speculation emerged that id Software had suffered significant casualties. The DOOM developer has moved to counter these claims, asserting that rumours of being "gutted" by the layoffs are inaccurate and that its workforce remains substantially intact.
Leadership at the studio, including DOOM: The Dark Ages director Hugo Martin, has emphasised that the engine team responsible for the franchise remains operational and unchanged in scale. According to the company's statements, its current headcount mirrors the size of the team that shipped DOOM in 2016, suggesting minimal disruption to development capabilities despite the broader industry upheaval.
- id Software refutes claims it was heavily impacted by Xbox's recent workforce reductions
- Studio asserts team size has remained consistent with the 2016 DOOM era
- Leadership confirms engine team remains fully operational and unaffected
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id Software is a US-based video game studio best known for creating the DOOM series, and it operates as part of Xbox's game publishing division, alongside other developers owned by Microsoft. Xbox recently carried out a large round of job cuts across its games business, prompting concern among fans and industry observers about which specific studios and teams had been affected.
Reports and speculation following the cuts suggested that id Software had been hit particularly hard, raising fears about the future of its output, including the recently released DOOM: The Dark Ages. The studio's leadership, among them the game's director Hugo Martin, has since spoken publicly to address these claims about the scale of the impact on its staff.
This matters because id Software's technology underpins not just its own games but also titles built by other studios using its engine, so any serious disruption to its workforce could have knock-on effects across the wider industry. The dispute over what actually happened also reflects a broader pattern of uncertainty and rumour that has followed large-scale layoffs across the games sector in recent years.
Coverage
- Push Square — DOOM Maker Continues to Repel Rumours It’s Been Gutted by Xbox
- GamesRadar+ — Doom: The Dark Ages lead says claims that id Software has been “gutted” by layoffs are “not true,” and its engine team is “very much alive and well”
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