Chris Kerr,

Senior Editor, News,GameDeveloper.com

July 20, 2026

3 Min Read

During a recent livestream to mark the launch of Doom: The Dark Ages expansion Revelations, id Software co-director Hugo Martin denied the studio has been left on life support following the latest round of mass layoff at Xbox.

"There's been reports that we've been nerfed into the ground and gutted and we have 50 people, and that's not true," said Martin (thanks, Eurogamer). "We're the size we were when we made Doom (2016) and id Tech is very much alive and well."

That rebuttal comes after a WARN notice showed 136 people (including 40 remote workers) assigned to the office of id Software in Texas were laid off after Microsoft announced plans to eliminate 3,200 roles across Xbox before the end of the current fiscal year.

Martin's claim that id Software is now is a similar state as it was when Doom (2016) launched a decade ago has been scrutinized by current and former employees, who feel the long-serving director is misrepresenting the truth.

Related:Unions take legal action against Microsoft for allegedly mishandling Xbox layoffs

Over the weekend, multiple anonymous sources told Game Developer that around two thirds of those left at id Software who worked on Doom (2016) were laid off at the beginning of the month. That reportedly included many "multiple hat" developers who were integral to the team.

Although our sources don't dispute that id Software may now technically be the same size as it was in 2016, they feel Martin has wilfully ignored how losing so much talent and experience will impact the studio.

"I don't agree with Hugo's statement and many who were laid off were upset by those comments and saw it as viewing their contributions as insignificant to the success of our games. I've been a gamer my whole life. If you cut a stat in half everyone would call that nerfed. In truth the Doom team is half here, half thrown away," said one current id Software employee.

"[..] It's also of note that Doom (2016) development was brutal. With the infamous Doom 4 reboot included, it took about seven years and an absurd amount of crunch to finish. The icing on the cake is that there were several key individuals who worked an unsafe number of hours to make that happen who were also part of the layoffs."

Another source who was impacted by the latest cuts claims Martin's statement is only accurate because there was a "massive turnover and exodus" at id Software from 2010 to 2011—around two years into the seven-year production of Doom (2016)—that left the studio in an "awful spot."

"Hiring ramped up tremendously around 2013-2014 for the final push—or the studio was going to go under," they added. "On top of the internal hiring spree (which involved a small miracle of picking up Crytek’s engine team almost wholesale) we also contracted out a support studio of 21 people (Escalation studios, which was purchased and turned into Bethesda Dallas) and Certain Affinity, which consisted of around 140 developers at the time."

Related:UK union launches free resource to decode video game writing contracts

Last week, Game Developer heard from a number of sources impacted by the Xbox layoffs who described the cuts as needlessly brutal and self-defeating. Many said they cannot see how key studios such as id Software and ZeniMax Online Studios will be capable of delivering the success required by an ailing Xbox Game Studios after losing so much institutional knowledge overnight.

Game Developer has approached Microsoft for comment.

About the Author

Chris Kerr

Senior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com

Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton.