Marty Stratton says id Software is doing great after layoffs

Xbox cut roughly half of id Software’s staff earlier in 2026, hitting the Richardson, Texas, studio and remote roles, amid a broader reset of Microsoft’s gaming business, and studio co-director Marty Stratton said Oct. 31, 2026 that about half the studio had exited.

A WARN notice filed in Texas confirmed 96 layoffs at id Software’s Richardson location and 40 remote roles cut, Game Developer reported. Softonic reported that Microsoft eliminated around 3,200 Xbox jobs during the reset. Xbox has about a quarter of the reset left to complete, with more layoff rounds scheduled for November and January, Kotaku reported.

Stratton said the studio is doing great and remains viable across game development and technology work, even after about half the staff left. “We’re doing great,” Stratton said. He said the studio is collaborating more closely with MachineGames than ever before, adding, “We’re working more closely with MachineGames than ever.” Stratton said both teams are pursuing a technology path that began before the cuts.

PlayStation Universe reported that people speaking to Game Developer said about two thirds of the id Software team behind Doom 2016 lost their jobs. VICE reported that fewer than 100 developers remain at id Software after more than half the staff was cut. Hugo Martin rejected claims that the studio had been gutted with 50 people or nerfed into the ground, saying it remains the size it was during Doom 2016 development. “We’re the size we were when we made Doom 2016, and id Tech is very much alive and well,” Martin said.

Xbox told IGN that a large team works on id Tech across multiple locations and said reports that just one person remained in Texas were wrong. Reductions fell heavily on id Software’s Frankfurt office, where many id Tech engine designers worked. Some feared id Tech was being shelved after the Frankfurt cuts, though Microsoft pushed back and later reports left the matter unresolved. Martin said on a stream covering the Revelations DLC that id Tech engineers work in both Frankfurt and at MachineGames.

Doom: The Dark Ages runs on id Tech 8, while MachineGames built Indiana Jones and the Great Circle using Motor, a modified version of id Tech 7. The studio has finished active work on Doom: The Dark Ages now that its expansions are out. MachineGames developed Wolfenstein: The New Order, and it also made Indiana Jones and the Great Circle more recently.

A Wolfenstein 3 project is widely rumored to be in development at MachineGames, but Bethesda and Xbox have not confirmed it or described the broader id Software partnership.

Chris Hays, a veteran programmer, said in August that building an AAA (triple-A) game at id Software’s previous scale with half the staff is impossible. Some former employees and industry observers question whether a much smaller id Software studio can still make AAA games at the same scale, given past complaints about crunch (mandatory overtime).

Id Software had been developing new game concepts before the cuts, including Fury, a John Wick-style original IP, a new Perfect Dark game, a multiplayer or co-op Doom title, and Ironwood, a robot western. Fury was Hugo Martin’s brainchild. Xbox stood up The Initiative in 2018 for a Perfect Dark reboot, revealed a new trailer in June 2024, and later closed both the studio and the reboot. Following those closures, id Software reportedly looked into taking Perfect Dark on itself and started concept art for a new game.

Laid-off staff gathered for a Save our Devs rally outside id’s Richardson office on a Wednesday, joining nationwide and Canadian events by workers represented by the Communications Workers of America. The Communications Workers of America is in talks with Microsoft on an exit agreement. Laid-off staff also protested outside Bethesda locations, including id Software’s, around Martin’s comments.

John Romero used social media to support affected staff and said the legacies of Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein must survive. John Carmack said he was sad, not angry or outraged, about the layoffs, and asked if id Software’s games sold enough to stop them.

Double Fine and Compulsion Games went independent after Xbox layoffs, while other teams found buyers or, in Arkane Lyon‘s case, sought new ownership to avoid closing. Four Xbox studios have shut down, and another is close to closing. Id Software said in a statement that it was back at its Doom 2016 staffing level, could still make great games, and rejected the idea that no one remained on id Tech.

Critics praised Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations, and fans liked its new spear-based action. The staff reductions happened the same day the Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations DLC launched. Hugo Martin said Doom: The Dark Ages performed well against its forecast and was both critically and commercially successful.

The cancelled DOOM 4 almost destroyed id Software, and the 2016 reboot rose from its ashes after about seven years of heavy crunch. Developers who worked unsafe hours later lost their jobs.