id Software has been cut in half. Microsoft's Xbox Reset eliminated 136 jobs at the Doom and Quake studio this week, and the developers who were let go say that comes out to roughly 50% of the entire company.
The confirmation comes from a WARN notice filed in Texas. According to VGC, 96 employees were let go at id's Richardson, Texas headquarters, with another 40 remote roles cut on top of that. The Communication Workers of America counted 185 employees at the studio this past December, which would put the cuts at well over half of id's headcount if that figure still held.
It's all part of the 3,200 Xbox job cuts Microsoft confirmed on July 6th, and id isn't the only Texas studio in the filings: VGChartz reports another 22 positions were eliminated at Bethesda Game Studios' operation in the state.
The timing is a little crazy... The 136 number was confirmed just as Revelations launched on July 7th. The $19.99 campaign expansion for Doom: The Dark Ages packs in 10 to 12 hours of new content, the new Chain Spear weapon, and an endgame section bigger than both Doom Eternal Ancient Gods expansions combined, on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
VGC reports id VFX artist Todd Boyce called out the cuts for landing the day before the expansion released, after the team had crunched to get it finished.
What The Developers Are Saying
Michael Maynard spent over 20 years at id as a Senior Gameplay Systems Programmer, with credits running from RAGE through Doom: The Dark Ages. Pure Xbox reports he was among those let go, and his LinkedIn goodbye laid it out plainly: "I was part of the team (roughly 50% of the company) that was let go today. (I was there for OVER 20 years! RAGE through DOOM: Dark Ages)."
He went on to write that "Microsoft/XBOX decided half the team was deemed USELESS and needed to be let go; despite all the amazing work and effort from every designer, programmer, artist, audio specialist, level designer, fx, tech design, and on and on and on."
Former id VFX artist Derek Best, who worked on all three modern Doom games, sees the studio's role shrinking. "Writing on the wall is getting relegated to support studio size and moving to Unreal," he wrote in a LinkedIn post reported by VGC, accusing Microsoft of "nuking a team into the dirt."
PC Gamer reports the studio's VFX team is now down to one single artist, with no lead or producer, and that engine programmers were among those cut.
Gameplay animator Skai Chow had a message for anyone applauding the move. "I sure hope the sixth round of layoffs is worth our pain and your pleasure," Chow wrote in a post reported by Windows Central, attached to a graphic listing five previous rounds of Microsoft gaming layoffs since early 2023.
What Does A Halved id Mean For Doom?
Doom co-creator John Romero weighed in on X the day the news broke. "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," he wrote, as reported by Kotaku.
Romero went through similar cuts at his own Romero Games a year ago, and he used the moment to push for preservation, revealing he has archived id's complete early history, from its Softdisk beginnings through August of 1996, including materials the studio itself no longer has. His collection is willed to The Strong National Museum of Play.
This is a studio with more than 30 years of history behind it. Romero, John Carmack, and the original id crew built Wolfenstein 3D in 1992, changed gaming forever with Doom in 1993, and pushed shooters into true 3D with Quake in 1996.
The modern team kept that run going, with Doom: The Dark Ages standing as one of Xbox's biggest first-party releases of 2025. GamesRadar reports Revelations arrived to strongly positive Steam reviews the same week the studio was halved, with one review warning that "it may very well be the last piece of good Doom content that we ever get." Whether a support-studio-sized id can keep making games at that scale is the open question hanging over the whole franchise.
I don't know how it's possible, but do you think a half-sized id Software can still deliver a full-sized Doom? Would you have handled the timing differently with an expansion launching the same week?
Sound off in the comments below!
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