'My Heart's With All of You' — John Romero Says id Software Has 'Done a Great Job' Moving the Studio's Legacy Forward and Hopes Someone Is Working to Preserve It All Amid Xbox Layoffs

John Romero has commented connected the layoffs that person impacted Microsoft-owned id Software arsenic portion of sweeping cuts to the Xbox business.

Yesterday, Microsoft gaming brag Asha Sharma announced the astir “significant” restructure successful Xbox history, with 1,600 unit fto spell immediately, and different 1,600 unit to travel implicit the people of the existent fiscal year. As portion of the restructure, 4 studios are leaving Xbox to caller management, and 1 is present successful consultation implicit its future.

ZeniMax Media, which operates Bethesda, was deed hard by the layoffs. ZeniMax Online Studios has suffered important cuts, forcing the remaining developers of The Elder Scrolls Online to rethink aboriginal content. And id Software is besides heavy affected. The developer of Doom has mislaid 95 staff, according to erstwhile Bethesda Studios task pb Jeff Gardiner. Among them is main quality creator Denzil O’Neill, who worked connected Doom The Dark Ages, Doom Eternal, and Doom implicit the people of 12 years astatine the studio. The Doom The Dark Ages enlargement comes retired this week.

Romero, co-founder of id Software and the decorator of Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Quake, took to societal media to connection affected unit his support, and to telephone connected the studio’s caller bequest to beryllium preserved.

“I’m truthful atrocious for everyone astatine id Software affected by these layoffs,” Romero tweeted.

“I cognize what it feels similar to permission id portion id goes on. It’s a unusual and achy happening to measurement distant from a spot that holds truthful overmuch of your work, friendships and history.

“The radical astatine id person done a large occupation moving that bequest forward. DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein are not casual names to transportation on, particularly successful today’s industry. The past fewer games showed existent care, accomplishment and respect for what those worlds mean to people.

“A enactment connected integer preservation: id's past is critically important to the past of games. I’ve preserved id’s implicit aboriginal past from our commencement astatine Softdisk done to August 6, 1996, including materials and assets that, arsenic acold arsenic I know, id itself nary longer has. I anticipation idiosyncratic is doing the aforesaid for the company’s ongoing bequest (the work, code, assets, stories and the radical down them).

“I’m reasoning of everyone astatine id today, and everyone other affected by yesterday’s layoffs. Romero Games was determination a twelvemonth ago. I cognize however devastating it is, and my heart's with each of you.”

That’s a notation to past year’s cancelation of Romero Games’ shooter aft Microsoft reportedly pulled backing arsenic portion of layoffs successful July 2025. (This was the circular of layoffs that included the cancelation of Rare’s Everwild and The Initiative’s Perfect Dark reboot.) Romero Games did not close, and the Romeros assured fans they were "evaluating opportunities" from publishers that had been successful interaction since the backing issues were announced, but precise small was known astir the crippled different than it was a first-person shooter.

Meanwhile, the aboriginal of id Software remains unclear. MachineGames has survived the cull, with a caller Wolfenstein crippled beauteous overmuch an unfastened concealed astatine this point. Could what remains of id Software beryllium enactment to enactment supporting its development, oregon possibly helping different workplace marque a caller Fallout game?

Sharma has made it wide that Xbox wants to treble down connected its biggest franchises. Bethesda brag Jill Braff has told unit overmuch the same. Without naming games, Braff said “to champion presumption Bethesda for aboriginal growth, we are shifting from a readying exemplary chiefly centered connected what's adjacent for each autarkic workplace to 1 that focuses connected our strongest franchises and determining the contented roadmap that champion serves our players and Bethesda arsenic a whole.”

“From there, we’ll align the close talent, technology, and resources crossed the enactment to present connected those priorities,” Braff added. Bloomberg newsman Jason Schreier has said that Bethesda volition proceed to enactment connected Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake alongside The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.

Photo by Borja B. Hojas/Getty Images for SDCCMalaga.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].