It feels like Xbox and questionable decisions are going hand in hand lately, especially as the company is set to lay off around 3,200 employees throughout FY2027, with roughly 1,600 of those layoffs already taking place yesterday.
I'm still of the opinion that Xbox needed to change and that restructuring was necessary. That doesn't make any of this easy, though, and I imagine experiencing these layoffs is far more painful than simply watching them unfold. I genuinely hope those affected are able to land on their feet.
Looking at id Software, and particularly id Tech, I can't help but feel there's been an enormous amount of wasted potential. Based on the reported layoffs, the new Xbox leadership seemingly saw little value in much of the studio, cutting roughly 50% of its staff, including members of its technology team.
Among those affected was senior programmer Michael Maynard, who spent 21 years at id Software. He took to LinkedIn, saying:
“We created arguably THE BEST first person engine technology in the industry… Yet today, 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… Yes, 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) Sad but, I've been doing this (video games) for over 40 years so, not a huge surprise to me. Just really sad that this is how Id Software, the PIONEER/INNOVATOR of FPS action games is relegated to just another "reorganization" of assets.”
Taking to X, is also Skai Chow, Doom: The Dark Ages animator, who simply said:
"We hope our pain was worth it."
It's genuinely surprising to see id Software gutted like this. I've long believed the studio was underutilized, and I'd hoped to see it take a crack at something like Halo one day. Now, I don't even know how it's supposed to continue making DOOM, let alone take on other franchises.
In fact, I'd even have liked to see id Tech positioned to compete with the likes of Unreal Engine. It's a fantastic engine that's massively underused within Xbox, so making it publicly available, with Xbox taking a 5% royalty on game revenue similar to Unreal Engine, feels like it could have been a great opportunity.
Maybe Xbox has a plan that isn't immediately obvious, but from the outside looking in, it's hard to understand how cutting so much of a studio responsible for one of the industry's best FPS franchises sets it up for long-term success, especially since DOOM: The Dark Ages has a new expansion releasing today.
If you think this sucks, or maybe you think this is fine, let me know in the comments and be sure to take part in our poll above.
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