Id claims it has “the crew we need to build the games and tech we’re known for” following mass layoffs

id Software has issued a statement following Microsoft’s sweeping Xbox layoffs this week, in which the legendary DOOM developer lost 136 employees—over half its workforce. The cuts, part of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s broader “reset” affecting 3,200 jobs (with another 1,600 planned), came just as the studio released the Revelations DLC for Doom: The Dark Ages.

The layoffs sparked immediate concern from departing staff and industry observers about id Software’s ability to continue developing new games and maintaining idTech, the proprietary engine behind the DOOM, Wolfenstein, and Indiana Jones franchises. Reports suggested that most or all coding staff may have been affected, potentially crippling the studio’s core capabilities.

In response, id Software posted a statement on X assuring fans that the studio remains viable. The statement emphasized that while impacted, the layoffs “were spread across teams” and that they “still have the crew we need to build the games and tech we’re known for.” The studio noted that its current team size approximates the workforce that created DOOM (2016), operating under its longstanding philosophy of a flat structure where “everyone is a maker.”

Xbox also issued a separate statement addressing specific concerns about idTech, clarifying that “dozens of people” remain dedicated to developing and maintaining the engine, contrary to reports it might be abandoned.

The responses aim to dispel speculation that id Software—an industry staple of four decades—has been reduced to a support studio or faces an uncertain future. However, questions remain about the studio’s capacity to sustain both active game development and engine maintenance with a significantly reduced workforce.

Id claims it has “the crew we need to build the games and tech we’re known for” following mass layoffs

Sources