Update: The official id Software account offered this explanation X today:
“Thank you for all the support this week. Although our studio was impacted, these changes have been distributed across all teams. We still have the crew we need to build the games and technology we are known for. The team is about the same size today as it was during development.” Doom (2016). We’ve always had a flat studio where everyone is a doer, and we’ll stay true to that philosophy going forward.”
“We are focused on supporting each other and the team members impacted. We will continue to create the great games and technology that have defined us over the last 35 years, and we look forward to seeing you at QuakeCon this August.”
Update: A WARN notice filed in Texas has confirmed that Xbox subsidiary ZeniMax Media has laid off 158 people in the state.
The document, sent to Game Developer at the Texas Workforce Commission’s request, states that 96 of those layoffs will be made at id Software’s Richardson, Texas, office. 40 remote employees working at this location were also laid off – meaning a total of 136 positions were eliminated.
The remaining 22 layoffs occurred at Bethesda Game Studios’ Austin office.
Of the 158 workers laid off in Texas, 146 are represented by the Communications Workers of America union.
Original story: Doom: The Dark Ages Developer ID Software was reportedly laid off during Xbox’s latest round of mass layoffs.
Multiple anonymous sources have told Game Developer that around 50 percent of the Texas-based studio’s employees have been laid off. One person said this would mean over 90 layoffs.
Another source told Game Developer that the studio’s quality assurance department was decimated by the cuts. A fired employee posting publicly on Linkedin confirmed these claims and expressed anger that the studio was being torn apart in “another ‘reorganization’ of assets.”
It is currently unclear how many of them Over 100 union members at id Software were pushed out.
The news comes just hours after Xbox confirmed it Elimination of 3,200 jobs across the video game division next financial year – starting with 1,600 cuts this week.
In an internal email obtained by IGNsaid Bethesda President Jill Braff that the company – which is a sister studio to id Software and others under ZeniMax – would be restructured around its biggest franchises.
“To best position Bethesda for future growth, we are moving from a planning model that focuses primarily on what’s next for each independent studio to one that focuses on our strongest franchises and determining the content roadmap that best serves our players and Bethesda as a whole,” the email said.
A source familiar with the situation has confirmed the contents of Braff’s email, stating that Bethesda will now focus on Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake. They said Bethesda wants to make it easier for its development teams to collaborate, but noted that no existing studios will be closed.
The game developer has reached out to Microsoft for comment.
If you are an Xbox employee affected by this story and would like to share your views confidentially, you may do so Email our news editor Chris Kerr or contact him via Signal (kerrblimey.43).
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/report-around-half-of-the-id-software-team-have-been-laid-off
