id Software co-director says the Doom developer is ‘working more closely with MachineGames than ever’ after Xbox laid off ‘about half of our studio’
id Software co-director Hugo Martin says the Doom studio is working more closely with MachineGames, the developer of Wolfenstein, than ever before. His comments follow Xbox layoffs that he said cut about half of id Software’s staff, making the collaboration significant as the studio works with a much smaller team.
Martin described the partnership as productive, while acknowledging that the two studios have different strengths and working methods. The article gives no specific headcount or details of which projects the joint work involves; “about half” is Martin’s estimate of the scale of the layoffs.
In short
- Xbox layoffs cut about half of id Software’s staff, according to its co-director.
- id Software says its collaboration with MachineGames has grown closer.
- The studios’ joint projects were not specified.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Closer collaboration with MachineGames could help id Software sustain its work with a smaller team by sharing expertise, tools and production capacity. The studios’ complementary strengths may also improve projects and preserve continuity for staff and players amid major changes.
The case against
A partnership cannot necessarily replace the experience, creative capacity and institutional knowledge lost when about half the studio’s staff were laid off. Working across studios with different methods may add coordination costs, and without details about staffing or projects it is unclear how much the collaboration can offset those losses.
Explained simply
id Software is the studio behind Doom, a long-running series of science-fiction action games. MachineGames, another game studio, is best known for its Wolfenstein games; both studios are part of Microsoft’s Xbox group.
Game development often involves studios sharing expertise or working together, though each may have different skills and ways of organising work. The reported staff cuts at id Software provide context for why its closer collaboration with MachineGames has drawn attention, but the projects involved have not been specified.
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