Doom co-creator John Romero responds to id Software layoffs with plea for digital preservation

John Romero, co-founder of id Software and co-creator of Doom, has spoken out following reports that roughly half of id Software's team was laid off as part of Xbox's sweeping restructure. Posting on July 7, Romero offered condolences and drew on his own experience of leaving the studio he helped build.

"I'm so sorry for everyone at id Software affected by these layoffs," Romero wrote. "I know what it feels like to leave id while id goes on. It's a strange and painful thing to step away from a place that holds so much of your work, friendships and history." He praised the studio's recent output across Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein, saying "the last few games showed real care, skill and respect for what those worlds mean to people." He also issued a pointed call for preservation: "id's history is critically important to the history of games. I've preserved id's complete early history from our start at Softdisk through to August 6, 1996, including materials and assets that, as far as I know, id itself no longer has. I hope someone is doing the same for the company's ongoing legacy — the work, code, assets, stories, and the people behind them."

The scale of the cuts at id Software is still unconfirmed by Microsoft, but multiple sources paint a grim picture. Game Developer reported that roughly half the studio has been let go, while former Bethesda Game Studios project lead Jeff Gardiner put the number as high as 95 people. 3D Realms and Apogee founder Scott Miller claimed most or all of id's coders have been dismissed. Systems programmer Michael Maynard, a 20-year veteran who worked on everything from RAGE through Doom: The Dark Ages, confirmed his own departure on LinkedIn, writing that Microsoft had deemed half the team "useless" despite what he called the best first-person engine technology in the industry. The layoffs hit during the release week of Revelations, the expansion-sized DLC for Doom: The Dark Ages. Bethesda boss Jill Braff told staff the company is shifting away from a model centered on individual studio independence toward one focused on its strongest franchises. Speculation is growing that id Tech, the engine lineage stretching back to Quake, could be abandoned entirely given how heavily the cuts targeted the technology team.

id Software is one of the most historically significant studios in gaming — the team that essentially invented the modern first-person shooter with Doom in 1993 and went on to build engine technology that powered countless other games through commercial licensing. Romero himself left id in 1996, and his preserved archive covers exactly that founding era. His concern that the studio's more recent history — post-1996 code, assets, and institutional knowledge — could now be at risk carries real weight given how many senior engineers appear to have been cut. Romero Games, his own studio, went through its own painful layoffs roughly a year ago, which is why his closing line — "I know how devastating it is, and my heart's with all of you" — lands with more than just sympathy.

Former and current id staff are venting on LinkedIn and social media, with Maynard's post drawing particular attention for its blunt assessment of Microsoft's decision-making. What happens to id Software's remaining team, its engine, and the Doom franchise going forward remains unclear — Microsoft has yet to formally confirm the full scope of the cuts.