id Software co-director Marty Stratton says the Doom developer is “doing great” after recent layoffs affected half of the studio. The cuts were part of a broader restructuring involving Microsoft-owned game studios, described in the report as an Xbox “reset.”
Stratton said he was not trying to dismiss the impact of the layoffs and directly acknowledged that “half of our studio” had been laid off. At the same time, he described the decision as a “deliberate effort” to ensure id Software would succeed.
His comments reflect his position as a studio executive, and he did not provide details about how other employees who remained at id Software view the situation internally.
Stratton also said the changes have brought id Software and MachineGames closer together. Although the studios were already “very close,” he said they are now working together more closely than ever, particularly on technology development.
“We’re at a point with technology development that both teams are incredibly talented and have incredibly talented engineers and we’re really on an amazing path that had started pre-[layoffs],” Stratton said. He added that the teams had begun this work earlier in the year and were “really excited” and “really bullish” about what lies ahead.
id Software’s most recent release was 2025’s Doom: The Dark Ages. MachineGames released Indiana Jones and the Great Circle in 2024, and a new Wolfenstein game is reportedly in development.
Sources: GameSpot.