Microsoft Layoffs Hit Bethesda, id Software Hard
▼ Summary
– Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced 3,200 layoffs, focusing on cuts to the platform team and middle management.
– Significant layoffs are occurring at id Software and Bethesda, following the initial Xbox cuts.
– Veteran programmer Michael Maynard confirmed that roughly 50% of the id Software team was let go, with other reports saying a majority of coders were cut.
– Game Developer reports the id Software layoffs amount to about 90 employees at the Doom studio.
– id co-founder John Romero expressed sorrow over the layoffs and urged Microsoft to preserve the studio’s code and documents.
Microsoft’s announcement of 3,200 layoffs across the Xbox division on Monday focused primarily on cuts to the Xbox platform team and redundant middle management layers. However, new details are emerging about significant staffing reductions at remaining Microsoft-owned game developers, particularly id Software and Bethesda.
Scott Miller, founder of Apogee and 3D Realms,who helped publish some of id’s earliest titles,posted on social media about “insider reports” indicating that a majority of id Software had been laid off, “including most (if not all) coders.” Veteran programmer Michael Maynard, whose credits at id date back to 2011’s Rage, confirmed on LinkedIn that he was among the “roughly 50%” of the id team let go Monday.
Game Developer cites “multiple anonymous sources” in corroborating these reports, estimating the redundancies affect about 90 employees at the studio behind Doom. The first DLC pack for last year’s Doom: The Dark Ages launched earlier today.
Id co-founder John Romero expressed sorrow over the layoffs in a social media thread, praising the current team for maintaining the franchise’s legacy. “Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein are not easy names to carry on, especially in today’s industry,” he wrote. “The last few games showed real care, skill and respect for what those worlds mean to people.” Romero also urged Microsoft to preserve the code and documents associated with the current version of id, as he has done for the incarnation he helped lead until 1996.
(Source: Ars Technica)
