id Software says it still has the team it needs after massive Xbox layoffs

id Software issued a statement on July 10 pushing back against fears about its future, after Microsoft's sweeping Xbox cuts hit the studio hard. WARN filings in Texas confirmed 136 people were cut from the Richardson office — over half the studio — plus an additional 40 remote staff, all just a day before the Doom: The Dark Ages expansion launched.

In its statement posted to X, id Software said: "While our studio was impacted, those changes were spread across teams. We still have the crew we need to build the games and tech we're known for. The team today is about the same size we were when making Doom (2016). We have always had a flat studio where everyone is a maker, and we will remain true to that philosophy moving forward." The studio also pointed to QuakeCon this August, saying it's looking forward to seeing fans there. One of the sharpest concerns among former staff was the fate of id Tech, the studio's proprietary engine — the Director of Engine Technology, Billy Khan, who joined in 2010, was among those cut. Despite reports that only one person remained on the core id Tech team in Texas, an Xbox spokesperson pushed back: "There are dozens of people working on id Tech across multiple locations. Reports that there's only one person left in Texas are inaccurate." Microsoft declined to comment on future projects, though sources told Kotaku that nothing is currently greenlit — pitches in circulation include multiplayer DLC for Doom: The Dark Ages and an unannounced non-Doom game.

id Software is one of the most storied studios in PC gaming history, responsible for Doom, Quake, and the id Tech engine lineage that has underpinned first-person shooters for three decades. The studio has operated under ZeniMax Media, itself a Microsoft subsidiary since the 2021 Bethesda acquisition. The broader Xbox cuts total 3,200 positions by the end of this year — a staggering number that has rattled confidence in Microsoft's management of its acquired studios. A Windows Central report cited alongside the statement suggests id Software is not being forced onto Unreal Engine in the immediate term, which had been a genuine fear among staff.

The statement has done little to quiet the community's unease. One impacted worker put it bluntly: "Nothing says business success like nuking a team into the dirt and relegating them to support studio size while also throwing out massive technological achievements." The uncomfortable reality, as several observers have noted, is that making a game at the scale and fidelity of Doom: The Dark Ages requires more people than it did in 2016 — which is exactly why the studio had grown past 200 before these cuts. Whatever id builds next, it will be doing so with a significantly leaner crew and no confirmed project on the horizon.