Doom director Hugo Martin recently pushed back against reports that id Software had been gutted by Microsoft's wave of 3,200 layoffs across its Xbox division, insisting the studio hadn't been reduced to a mere support outfit. However, "current and former employees" have since contradicted his optimistic framing, according to a Game Developer report citing anonymous sources who say roughly two-thirds of the remaining Doom (2016) team were let go earlier this month, including staff considered central to the veteran studio.

Sources told Game Developer that Martin's comments felt dismissive of laid-off staff's contributions, with one describing the team as "half here, half thrown away." They pointed to the gruelling seven-year development of Doom (2016) – born from the cancelled Doom 4 – as evidence of the sacrifices made by those now cut, while another source noted that Martin's benign comparison only holds because id Software was already depleted by a "massive turnover and exodus" between 2010 and 2011, before later rebuilding with new hires and outside studio support. The cuts raise questions about whether a smaller id Software can produce another triple-A shooter independently, even as Xbox leadership reportedly remains keen on future Doom and Quake titles, and shortly after the studio released its Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations DLC.