DOOM’s Co-Creator John Romero Speaks Out on Xbox’s id Software Cuts
Xbox’s recent layoffs and studio shutdowns have been rough over the last few weeks, and DOOM’s studio, id Software, was recently hit pretty hard right as it launched The Dark Ages‘ expansion-sized DLC. And now, co-creator John Romero speaks out on the recent impact.
Romero posted on Blue Sky on July 7th, saying, “I’m so sorry for everyone at id Software affected by these layoffs.”
I’m so sorry for everyone at id Software affected by these layoffs. 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. 1/5
— John Romero (@johnromero.bsky.social) July 7, 2026 at 5:51 AM
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“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.”
While id Software has been relatively okay on the previous layoffs by Xbox, three sources claimed that on June 6, studio head Marty Stratton wrote in the office Slack for people not to come to work that day.
Romero continued in the comments of his post, saying, “The people at id have done a great job moving that legacy forward. DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein are not easy names to carry on, especially in today’s industry. The last few games showed real care, skill, and respect for what those worlds mean to people.”
Along with his sentiment to those that unfortunately were laid off, he also took a moment to express the importance of preserving some of the defining games, as rumors grow that id Tech might go extinct: “A note on digital 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.”
He then references his experiences with Romero’s own studio, Romero Games, which faced major problems and layoffs a year ago.
It’s reported that id Software lost half of its staff during the recent job cuts, including Senior Gameplay Systems Programmer, Micheal Maynard, who posted on LinkedIn that “roughly 50% of the company was let go today.”
The post reads: “Microsoft/XBOX decided half the team was no longer needed and should be let go; despite all the amazing work and effort from every designer, programmer, artist, audio specialist, level designer, fx, tech design, and on and on and on.”
“Sad but, I’ve been doing this (video games) for over 40 years so, not a huge surprise to me. Just really sad that this is how Id Software, the PIONEER/INNOVATOR of FPS action games is relegated to just another “reorganization” of assets.”
