{"id":11575,"date":"2026-07-10T02:02:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T23:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/?p=11575"},"modified":"2026-07-10T06:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T02:58:14","slug":"to-continue-being-produced-long-term-games-need-to-succeed-not-just-be-beloved-john-carmack-responds-to-id-software-layoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/to-continue-being-produced-long-term-games-need-to-succeed-not-just-be-beloved-john-carmack-responds-to-id-software-layoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;To Continue Being Produced Long Term, Games Need to Succeed, Not Just Be Beloved&#8217; \u2014 John Carmack Responds to id Software Layoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">John Carmack has responded to the significant layoffs at Doom developer id Software, expressing sadness but not \u201canger or outrage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">On Wednesday, a WARN notice filed in Texas reported by Game Developer confirmed that 96 workers had been laid off in Richardson, Texas, home of id Software, with a further 40 remote roles cut. Reports indicate 50% of staff have lost their jobs.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The cuts come as part of new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma\u2019s \u201creset\u201d of Microsoft\u2019s gaming business, which began with 1,600 staff losing their jobs on Monday. Another 1,600 will be let go during the rest of the current financial year. Four Xbox studios are already out the door, with another hot on their heels.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">The 100 Best Xbox Games of All Time<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\">&lt;img alt=&quot;What is an Xbox? Microsoft has spent 25 years trying to answer the question, but for fans, the answer is easy: \u201cXbox\u201d evokes one-eared headsets wired into the memory card slots of massive controllers with breakaway cords. A dashboard with gleaming skeuomorphic blades and avatars adorned in earned accessories. That sound that plays when a hard-earned Achievement finally pops. \u201cXbox\u201d means heavy-duty hardware. Tactile sensations. Friends connecting for the first time. And that\u2019s before we even get to the games.<\/p>\n<p>It may be that the very idea of an Xbox game is coming to an end. Microsoft has undeniably shifted its tactics, with a new focus on multi-platform releases, handheld Xboxes that are actually miniature Windows computers, and the potential that future Xbox consoles may simply be gaming PCs. So now seems as good a time as any to look back at the entire history of Microsoft\u2019s console journey and rank the best Xbox games, with help from our friends at Outside Xbox, the multimillion-subscriber channel that serves up weekly videos about video games and video game-adjacent things<\/p>\n<p>When we say \u201cthe best Xbox games,\u201d we mean the ones that most evoke that weighty sense of \u201cXboxness.\u201d Some are first-party, most are exclusives, and all of them are indelibly tied to the legacy of and fondness for a platform that\u2019s left a massive mark on gaming. These are the 100 Best Xbox Games of All Time. We&#8217;ll be updating this list daily with 25 games at 7am PST\/10am ET\/3pm GMT from Tuesday, 20th January to Friday, 23rd January, until number one is revealed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; decoding=&#8221;async&#8221; class=&#8221;progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity&#8221; loading=&#8221;lazy&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/to-continue-being-produced-long-term-games-need-to-succeed-not-just-be-beloved-john-carmack-responds-to-id-software-layoffs.gif&#8221; data-cy=&#8221;progressive-image&#8221;&gt;<span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Carmack, who co-founded id Software in 1991 alongside John Romero, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack, took to social media to express his belief that the company was a \u201cmarginal business\u201d for Microsoft, and that he couldn\u2019t see an obvious way for it to make more money from its games.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Here\u2019s the statement in full:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I have been trying to find something meaningful to say about the Id Software layoffs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>My \u201cMicrosoft will probably be a good steward of the brand\u201d statement isn\u2019t aging well, and this is certainly going to dampen the mood of the founder reunion at QuakeCon next month.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>I\u2019m saddened, but I can\u2019t muster anger or outrage over it. I don\u2019t have access to the books, but I suspect that id Software was a marginal business from Microsoft\u2019s perspective. I believe the reports that Minecraft revenues have been carrying several other studios.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>To continue being produced long term, games need to succeed, not just be beloved.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>Games are competing with every other option for spending your leisure time and money, and the competition is brutal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>You can\u2019t rule out the possibility that executives are idiots, but that shouldn\u2019t be your default belief. I don\u2019t think there is any obvious path that would have doubled the revenue from Id games.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>Could they have gotten more with a different pricing strategy?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>Could they have created more things for fans to buy?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>Could they have cost effectively marketed in a way that reached more players that would have loved and bought the games?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>Could they have changed the game designs and broadened the appeal to more players without alienating existing ones?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>Could they have produced the games at a lower cost, faster or cheaper?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>I really don\u2019t know.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>The game isn\u2019t over yet, and I hope the studio rallies through.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-cy=\"tierlist-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" id=\"xbox-games-series-tier-list\" data-cy=\"xbox-games-series-tier-list\">\n<div class=\"card jsx-1339469126 jsx-1355461925 box jsx-2627838217\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3547261442 jsx-2986308351\"><span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-4269505506 TierListHeader_header__xyy5a\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3647836811 jsx-4269505506 TierListHeader_title__UxzQx\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ign-icon icon-tier-list jsx-2750866048 jsx-1879929830\" role=\"img\" aria-hidden=\"false\" data-cy=\"icon-tier-list\" alt=\"Tier List\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/TierList.c19f1c86.svg?cors=0\"><\/p>\n<h3 data-cy=\"title3\" class=\"title3 jsx-12333944 jsx-2321054750 TierListHeader_full__J6p2u\">Xbox Games Series Tier List<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-957202555 TierListHeader_compact__7JWp1 balanced\">Xbox Games Series Tier List<\/h3>\n<p><\/span><\/span><span class=\"stack jsx-3547261442\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">There\u2019s a fair bit to unpack here. Let\u2019s start with Carmack\u2019s suggestion that id Software was a \u201cmarginal business\u201d for Microsoft. Given Microsoft brought in $281.72 billion in revenue during its last financial year, then yes, id Software is little more than a rounding error, if you want to look at the studio from such a high level perspective. I imagine most Xbox studios are the same.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Compared to some other Xbox studios, though, id Software was prolific. 2016\u2019s Doom reboot was a blast. Yes, 2019\u2019s Rage 2 struggled, but 2020\u2019s Doom Eternal, released just a year later, brought fans back onside. 2022\u2019s Quake Champions has always been a bit of an odd release, but again, last year\u2019s Doom: The Dark Ages was great fun. These Doom games didn\u2019t sell at Call of Duty levels, but they made their mark.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Then there\u2019s Carmack\u2019s \u201cI believe the reports that Minecraft revenues have been carrying several other studios,\u201d line. This comes from a recent Bloomberg article on the goings on at Xbox amid its \u201creset\u201d plan. Here\u2019s the relevant section:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Going forward, Xbox plans to take a more streamlined approach to games and studios, rather than the bigger-is-better approach. The company will focus more on franchises like Minecraft, from studio Mojang, which had previously operated more or less independently. Profits from Minecraft, considered one of the most successful video games in the world, were used to fund the rest of the gaming portfolio, according to the person familiar with Xbox operations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Did Minecraft essentially prop up Xbox studios like id Software? If it did, that\u2019s not as surprising as it sounds. Many big entertainment companies work in much the same way, with one or two megahits helping to keep the bigger picture lights on. These massive money makers fuel risk taking, experimentation, and reboots of legacy first-person shooters. At least, they did.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Then there&#8217;s perhaps the most cutting line in Carmack&#8217;s statement: &#8220;To continue being produced long term, games need to succeed, not just be beloved.&#8221; Here he&#8217;s simply saying that id&#8217;s recent output \u2014 let&#8217;s say from 2016&#8217;s Doom reboot up to this month&#8217;s Dark Ages DLC \u2014 hasn&#8217;t been successful. I assume Carmack equates success to revenue here. That is, he&#8217;s saying that while people loved the Doom games, not enough people bought them. Ergo, layoffs in 2026.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Microsoft doesn\u2019t make sales numbers for its games public, nor does it reveal studio revenue figures, so we don\u2019t know what financial state id was in going into this year. According to GamesBeat, id was formulating new game ideas, such as a John Wick-style original IP, a new Perfect Dark game, and a multiplayer \/ co-op Doom game. Perhaps its biggest mistake was not having a new game ready to roll even before The Dark Ages came out. Whatever the truth, id&#8217;s future is now unclear. Some even worry the legendary shooter studio could be relegated to support status.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Earlier this week, John Romero took to social media to offer affected id Software staff his support, and to call on the studio\u2019s recent legacy to be preserved.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cDoom, Quake, and Wolfenstein are not easy names to carry on, especially in today\u2019s industry,\u201d he said. \u201cThe last few games showed real care, skill and respect for what those worlds mean to people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Photographer: Michael Short\/Bloomberg via Getty Images.<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/to-continue-being-produced-long-term-games-need-to-succeed-not-just-be-beloved-john-carmack-responds-to-id-software-layoffs.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/to-continue-being-produced-long-term-games-need-to-succeed-not-just-be-beloved-john-carmack-responds-to-id-software-layoffs.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/to-continue-being-produced-long-term-games-need-to-succeed-not-just-be-beloved-john-carmack-responds-to-id-software-layoffs.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/to-continue-being-produced-long-term-games-need-to-succeed-not-just-be-beloved-john-carmack-responds-to-id-software-layoffs.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-11575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11575"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11577,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11575\/revisions\/11577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}