Xbox Layoffs Gutted id Software, With 66% of Doom 2016 Team Cut

Two weeks after Microsoft announced 3,200 layoffs across its Xbox division, the human cost at id Software is coming into sharper focus. Reports indicate that approximately two-thirds of the developers who worked on the critically acclaimed Doom (2016) have been let go in the latest round of cuts, a staggering figure that paints a far grimmer picture than studio leadership had suggested. One affected developer put it bluntly: "I've been a gamer my whole life. If you cut a stat in half everyone would call that nerfed."

The controversy intensified after Doom: The Dark Ages director Hugo Martin publicly pushed back on reports that id Software had been "gutted," claiming the studio remained as large as it was a decade ago. Current and former employees have since come forward to dispute that characterization, disagreeing openly with Martin's optimism and suggesting the losses are both numerically significant and deeply felt within the studio. The disconnect between leadership's messaging and the ground-level reality has drawn widespread attention from the games industry and press alike.

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