John Carmack has responded to a major wave of layoffs at id Software, the studio he co-founded in 1991. Microsoft is cutting 136 jobs (reportedly over half the workforce) at the Doom studio, which just released an expansion for Doom: The Dark Ages this week.
“My statement ‘Microsoft will probably be a good steward of the brand’ is getting old,” Carmack wrote on
Despite what comes across as disapproval of the layoffs, Carmack stops short of criticizing Microsoft’s decision.
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“I’m sad, but I can’t muster any anger or outrage about this. I don’t have access to the books, but I suspect that id Software was a marginal business from Microsoft’s perspective. I believe the reports that Minecraft revenue went to several other studios.”
Carmack refers to a current one Bloomberg reports that profits from Minecraft have been redirected to financially less successful Xbox studios in recent years.
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I tried to say something meaningful about the layoffs at Id Software. My statement “Microsoft will probably be a good steward of the brand” is not getting old, and that will certainly dampen the mood of the founders’ meeting at QuakeCon next month. I am…July 9, 2026
“To be produced long-term, games need to be successful, not just loved. Games compete with every other way to spend free time and money, and the competition is brutal. You can’t rule out the possibility that executives are idiots, but that shouldn’t be your default belief. I don’t think there’s an obvious path that would have doubled revenue from ID games.”
He then suggested some hypothetical strategies that could have prevented where we find ourselves now, namely the decimation of the team behind the generation’s critically acclaimed shooters.
“Could they have gotten more with a different pricing strategy? Could they have created more things that fans could buy? Could they have marketed cost-effectively in a way that would have reached more players who would have loved and bought the games?”
“Could they have changed the game designs and broadened the appeal to more players without alienating the existing ones? Could they have produced the games at a lower cost, faster or cheaper?”
“I really don’t know.”
In his own response earlier this week, id Software co-founder John Romero expressed sadness for those who suddenly lost their jobs – an ordeal he can understand, considering Xbox cut funding for his studio’s next game, this time in 2025.
“I know how it feels to leave the identity as the identity continues. It is strange and painful to leave a place where so much work, friendships and history are hidden… Romero Games was there a year ago. I know how devastating it is and my heart goes out to all of you.”
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/john-carmack-reacts-to-massive-layoffs-at-id-software-my-microsoft-will-probably-be-a-good-steward-of-the-brand-statement-isnt-aging-well/
