id Software has posted a brief statement on social media, thanking players and well-wishers “for the support” and insisting that despite the recent job cuts, “we still have the crew we need to build the games.”
Microsoft, of course, recently confirmed plans to lay off thousands of people from its Xbox division and drop four game studios from its roster: Double Fine, Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, and Undead Labs. Even studios that have survived the cut, like Obsidian and id Software, are reeling from job losses.
“Thank you all for the support this week,” the statement began. “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 team today is about the same size we were when making Doom 2016,” the unsigned statement added. “We have always had a flat studio where everyone is a maker, and we will remain true to that philosophy moving forward.”
It closed by saying “we are focused on supporting each other and the team members impacted”.
“We’re going to keep building the great games and tech that have defined us for the past 35 years, and we’re looking forward to seeing you at QuakeCon this August,” it added.
Obsidian Entertainment, which reportedly lost a quarter of its staff in the cuts, has had its priorities shifted as well, with Xbox deciding to move Obsidian onto the Fallout franchise, aligning with the company’s stated intent to focus only on its biggest franchises. And interestingly, this project is said to be a new Fallout game, not a remaster of an existing title.
As a result of the cuts and the shift in development focus, Obsidian has apparently had to cancel multiple projects, including a sequel to 2025’s well-received role-playing game Avowed.
