So many people and teams were affected by the July 2026 XBOX layoffs. One notable case was id Software: The industry veteran responsible for DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein. Fears that the developer might not be able to produce new games appear to be very false and wide of the mark.
We’re learning a lot about id Software lately, some of which is better news than first thought. Dozens of people are still working on id Tech, according to a post-layoff report. Not only this, but id Software is reportedly not in as bad a position as first thought, giving hope for future DOOM games and the studio’s other hit franchises we all know and love.
id Software Team Now Same Size as DOOM (2016)
However you interpret this, make no mistake, the XBOX layoffs are horrible, with affected ID Software employees describing the layoffs as a ‘Bloodbath.’
Suggestions have made it out that id Software had come out of this very badly, and might struggle to produce any more of its own games.
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Jez Corden, of Windows Central, has said the team’s headcount is bigger than being made out to be:
‘The other rumor flying around is that id Software has shrunk to a headcount that is untenable for future self-made products, relegating them to “support studio” status. This too, is false.
While the cuts have been alarmingly callous, my understanding is that the remaining id Software core team is roughly the same as it was when DOOM (2016) shipped. DOOM (2016) is arguably the studio’s best-ever game in my view, despite the comparatively smaller headcount that produced it. That’s not too suggest in any capacity that we should expect the same quality bar without proof … Microsoft removed mountains of incredible talent from the pool.’
This is a perfect opportunity to plug my ‘All DOOM Games Ranked From Worst to Best‘ list, which also agrees that the 2016 DOOM reboot is the best DOOM game, and probably id Software’s best work.
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If the team has been scaled down to its 2016 self, then not all hope is lost. Again, though, we don’t know the emotional toll that the layoffs will have taken, which exact members of staff have been removed, and how much this has all affected id and Microsoft’s plans.
This is what DOOM (2016) looked like, and I think we’d all take something that looked and played like this.
Does this mean the beginning of a new chapter for DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein games? Let us know via the official Insider Gaming Discord Server.
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Andy is Insider Gaming's Senior Evergreen Editor and has been in the games journalism sphere in one way or another for over 7 years. His video game taste is as…
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Well then the mefia lied aboutthem being the size of a support team former devs claimed that so angry loers
Don’t believe a word from the mouth of that clown Jez Corden.