Doom: The Dark Ages Devs Endured "Worst Crunch" in Series History on Revelations DLC

Former id Software developers are speaking out about the brutal working conditions endured during production of Doom: The Dark Ages' expansion-sized DLC, "Revelations." According to multiple laid-off team members, the crunch was described as the worst in the franchise's history, with staff regularly logging 60 to 80 hour weeks and some pulling shifts as long as 17 hours a day. One former producer revealed that there were two consecutive months where they worked a minimum of 12 hours every single day, sharing the heartbreaking personal toll: "There were days where I didn't see my son."

The majority of the Revelations DLC was reportedly developed in just three to four months, a compressed timeline that forced the team into an unsustainable pace to ship the project. The human cost was significant, and the timing made matters worse. Revelations launched in July, the very same week Microsoft announced a sweeping round of 3,200 staff layoffs across its gaming division, leaving many of the developers who had just endured that grueling crunch suddenly out of a job. The revelations (no pun intended) paint a sobering picture of the conditions behind one of the year's most anticipated gaming releases.

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