Id Software Says Xbox Layoffs Shrank Studio to DOOM 2016-Era Size
id Software has confirmed that this week’s Xbox layoffs have reduced its headcount to roughly the same level the studio had when it built DOOM (2016), a decade-old milestone the Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein developer used to reassure fans it can still ship games. The admission came in an official statement posted to the studio’s social media on July 10, after days of speculation about how badly id had been hit by Microsoft’s broader restructuring of its Xbox game studios.
id’s Statement Cites DOOM (2016) Team Size Directly
In the message, shared across multiple outlets including Windows Central, id Software wrote that “Thank you for all the support this week. 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 studio added that “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.”
id closed the statement by promising continuity, noting it remained “focused on supporting each other and team members impacted” and that the team was “going to keep building the great games and tech that have defined us for the past 35 years” ahead of its planned appearance at QuakeCon in August. Windows Central noted the statement effectively verified its own earlier reporting that id Software is now about the size that it was when it released the 2016 DOOM reboot ten years ago, and that the studio isn’t in danger of being closed.
Texas WARN Notice Puts the Cut at 136 Roles
The scale of the reduction was laid out in an official filing rather than just internal messaging. Game Developer reported that a WARN Notice filed in Texas confirmed that Xbox subsidiary ZeniMax Media has laid off 158 people in the state, with 96 of those redundancies at id Software’s Richardson, Texas office and 40 remote workers reporting into that location also let go — indicating 136 roles eliminated in total. A further 22 cuts landed at Bethesda Game Studios’ Austin office, separate from id’s total.
PC Gamer likewise reported that the Doom studio, which just released a massive expansion for Doom: The Dark Ages this week, will lose 136 roles, according to WARN notices, framing it as a substantial downsizing for one of PC gaming’s most storied studios. The cuts landed only days after id shipped the Revelations campaign expansion for Doom: The Dark Ages on July 7, a timing several affected staff called out publicly.
Laid-Off VFX Artist Describes a “Support Studio” Left Behind
Not everyone accepted id’s reassuring tone at face value. Video Games Chronicle reported that Derek Best, a former VFX artist who had worked on all three modern Doom games, wrote on LinkedIn that he was “in shock at how brutal the layoff cuts” were, adding that “collectively decades of knowledge was wiped out of the studio”. Best said “The VFX team was eliminated down to one single artist with no lead or producer,” and claimed the engine programmer behind key visual-effects pipeline gains was also let go.
PC Gamer separately quoted Best summarising the mood inside the studio, calling the outcome a case of Microsoft “nuking the team into the dirt” and reducing id to a “support studio size” overnight, writing “I’m still in shock at how brutal the layoff cuts were”. A second id VFX artist, Todd Boyce, criticised the timing of the cuts landing just as the Dark Ages DLC shipped after what he described as months of unpaid crunch, according to Video Games Chronicle.
id Tech Engine’s Future Under Question as Xbox Presses On With 3,200 Cuts
id’s proprietary id Tech engine, used across Microsoft’s shooter portfolio and licensed to studios like MachineGames, has been a particular point of anxiety among staff and fans. Game Developer’s reporting on the affected roles noted Xbox is preparing to ‘reset’ its video game division by eliminating 3,200 roles in total, of which the id and Bethesda Austin cuts form only one part. The wider figure was first disclosed by Xbox leadership earlier in the week as part of a company-wide restructuring drive.
id also operates a Frankfurt, Germany office focused on id Tech engine development, and reporting from Aftermath indicated that office was affected by the same round of layoffs, though the exact scope there remains less clear than the Texas figures confirmed by WARN filings. For Australian and New Zealand players who rely on Xbox Game Pass for access to Doom: The Dark Ages and its DLC, the immediate concern is less about local availability and more about whether id retains the capacity to keep supporting the engine that underpins several other Xbox-published shooters.
QuakeCon 2026 Appearance Still Planned Despite the Cuts
Despite the turmoil, id’s statement specifically reaffirmed plans to attend QuakeCon in August, suggesting the studio intends to keep a public presence with fans even at reduced size. Whether that translates into a lighter release slate or a scaled-back roadmap for future Doom or Quake projects remains to be seen, but for now id Software says it is intent on proving the “flat studio” structure it has always used can still function at DOOM (2016) scale.
Read also: id Software: Studio Still Has “Crew We Need” Despite Xbox Layoffs
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