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Forums - Gaming - ID Software just lost 50% of its staff

Zkuq on 08 July 2026

In id's case this is no huge loss: they're a mere shadow of what they used to be anyway, and they've been reduced to a Doom studio a long time ago now. Maybe they were working on something else that was lost due to the shift on focus and the layoffs, and if so, that saddens me, but based on what we know of id's work in the last decade or probably even more, it's not work someone else couldn't have done as well.

Mummelmann said:

And once more, we're seeing how disastrous these major buyouts turned out. I have fond memories of people claiming it would benefit the industry. This is so sad, ID Software is more than just an old-dog studio; they're one of the last remaining bastions of properly optimized graphics engines and balls-to-the-walls gameplay design. 

Well, this is probably great for profitability and hence the industry, so... yay? Not the outcome I wanted myself, obviously...



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SanAndreasX on 08 July 2026



TheTitaniumNub 6 days ago
Spindel said:

Microsoft is becoming as good as EA at killing studios.

Oh buddy they surpassed EA 



Jumpin 6 days ago
SanAndreasX said:

In a nutshell: this is performative downsizing for market signaling and corporate back-pats that can lead to promotions and bonuses.



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ConciousMan 6 days ago

Hopefully, id Software's IPs can be bought back by people who care. Most of us who grew up with their games wanted something new like Quake 5, instead of Doom TDA. It's the shame that Microsoft wants to rely on UE 6 for new games instead of idTech, which is pretty good for FPS games.



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Spindel 6 days ago
ConciousMan said:

Hopefully, id Software's IPs can be bought back by people who care. Most of us who grew up with their games wanted something new like Quake 5, instead of Doom TDA. It's the shame that Microsoft wants to rely on UE 6 for new games instead of idTech, which is pretty good for FPS games.

Honestly: fuck the IP just give us new good games utilizing new cool tech. 



The_Liquid_Laser 6 days ago
Spindel said:

Microsoft is becoming as good as EA at killing studios.

It's kind of different, because EA bought studios like PopCap, while Microsoft bought Activision.  Microsoft can ruin a huge percentage of gaming, because of what they're doing.



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Azzanation 6 days ago
Bizwas said:

I loved Doom 2016 and Eternal; the Dark Ages did not catch me nearly as much, but to think the studio is now basically gone after two straight up bangers and a good game is really sad. I have mentioned this previously, these studios after the acquisition were asked to make "gamepass games" that try something different and are focused on variety, not straight up direct sales. And now they are being punished for it because their games did not sell that well.

They were not asked to make GamePass games.

And if you are blaming GamePass for a game that is sold on majority of platforms some without access to GamePass is a massively flawed argument.



Azzanation 6 days ago

I am a huge ID fan and people need to understand that studios rehire and reshuffle all the time. Layoffs happen yearly and will always happen, but i doubt ID will not grow again. They may be used more for Technology and leave developing games to other Bethesda studios. Makes the most amount of sense. They can also simply rehire again to what they need.

If MS wanted to kill ID, they would have simply closed the doors or sold them off like we seen with Undead Labs etc. They didnt, they clearly see value in them hence why they still have them operating.



Zippy6 6 days ago

Basically they've been Turn10'd. They still exist but only as a shadow.