id Software creative director Hugo Martin has commented on the Xbox layoffs that have affected the legendary Doom developer, insisting it\u2019s still alive and kicking.<\/p>\n
A WARN notice filed in Texas last week and 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. The cuts, estimated to have affected half the id Software staff, were part of new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma\u2019s \u201creset\u201d of Microsoft\u2019s gaming business, which began with 1,600 staff losing their jobs. 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
Last week, id Software issued a statement responding to the layoffs, saying it was now at the staffing level it had back when it made the much-loved 2016 Doom reboot. It also insisted it was still capable of making \u201cgreat games,\u201d and pushed back on the suggestion that there\u2019s essentially no-one left at the company working on id Tech, the game engine it and fellow Bethesda-owned studio MachineGames uses to build their games. Xbox confirmed to IGN that “there are dozens of people working on id Tech across multiple locations,” and that previous reports that there was only one person left in Texas are “inaccurate.”<\/p>\n
First reported by Kotaku, during a livestream playthrough of Doom: The Dark Ages DLC, Revelations, Martin addressed the layoffs, pushing back against reports of the studio\u2019s demise and promising to announce what it\u2019s working on next in due time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been reports that we\u2019ve been \u2018nerfed into the ground\u2019 and \u2018gutted\u2019 and we have 50 people, and that\u2019s not true,\u201d Martin said. \u201cWe\u2019re the size we were when we made Doom 2016, and id Tech is very much alive and well. You have to understand, we have id Tech engineers both in Frankfurt and at MachineGames. We collaborate quite a bit. The id Tech is there, the Doom team is here, and we\u2019re excited to share with you guys more of what we\u2019re working on in the future when it is appropriate and approved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin then suggested Doom: The Dark Ages, the prequel to 2016’s Doom and 2020’s Doom Eternal, was meeting commercial expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, the fact that we made a game that people like and is critical and commercially successful \u2014 like I said, it\u2019s doing very well related to the forecast and stuff \u2014 that\u2019s good for everyone, for the people at the studio, for the people who unfortunately we had to say goodbye to. I think that helps everyone and we really appreciate your support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what matters the most is that the games are good, and I\u2019m so happy that people, I don\u2019t know\u2026 It\u2019s just a good thing for everybody, and I know it\u2019s going to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
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