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Windows Central
Windows Central
Technology
Brendan Lowry

"We hope our pain was worth it": As Microsoft's Xbox layoffs axe half of id Software, one DOOM dev has a scathing message for anyone "celebrating" them

An official screenshot of the Doom Slayer as he appears in 2025's DOOM: The Dark Ages.

This week saw Microsoft and Xbox initiate the single biggest layoff wave in the gaming brand's history, with 3,200 Xbox and game development roles cut — 1,600 immediately, and another 1,600 throughout the next 12 months — as well as four studios divested from the Xbox Game Studios publishing division.

Alongside those teams and developers at ZeniMax and Bethesda, one studio that's been hit especially hard by the layoffs is id Software, the steward of the iconic and legendary shooter franchise DOOM. It's come to light that roughly half of the entire studio has been discharged, including both game devs and staffers working on its id Tech game engines.

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