NOTE: Things may be worse than first thought at id Software. A new report from gamedeveloper.com has surfaced, with the website claiming that they have requested an official WARN (Work Adjustment and Retraining Notice) report from Texas. That document says 96 of the layoffs were made at id Software’s office in Richardson, Texas. Another 40 remote workers reporting to that office were also let go, bringing the total to 136.
As we know better, the company had about 185 employees at the end of last year. If all these numbers are correct, id Software has been reduced.
TRUE STORY: We’re one day out from the massive Xbox “reset” that saw 1,600 people lose their jobs and another 1,600 layoffs planned for the coming fiscal year. It also saw Compulsion Games and Double Fine return to being independent studios, and Undead Labs and Ninja Theory sold to as-yet-undisclosed buyers. A lot of information is coming in slowly, among them is the Software ID that may have been released.
Bethesda Game Studios project lead Jeff Gardiner wrote on social media: “Just heard 95 on id.”
This is important because in December 2025 when ID Software became a union we learned that the company was sitting on about 185 employees. If what Gardiner heard is accurate, that’s pretty close to part of the company being dismantled.
Scott Miller, founder of Apogee/3D Realms, says he’s heard that “a lot” of ID Software was scrapped, including “a lot (if not all) of the code.”
Scott’s claims may be more dangerous. No one has confirmed that id Tech itself has been targeted. But when people hear that “most” ID codes may be gone, the obvious fear is not just a few people writing demon forums. A potential loss for people who understand the engine behind Doom, id Tech’s engine is widely regarded as one of the greatest FPS engines of all time.
This new update contrasts with an update from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier who said to Bluesky that “Zenimax will be heavily affected but will NOT be reduced to Fallout and The Elder Scrolls,” and that “The publisher will still work on Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake.”
But with such big cuts, what kind of future does Doom have? Doom: Dark Ages seems to have a much smoother performance than the previous two entries, after all.
Another theory floating around is that Xbox is abandoning the id Tech engine entirely and will move future games to the Unreal Engine, hence reducing the codes. Some people are concerned that they may be some kind of support studio, although that would not be consistent with Schreier’s report that Doom will continue to be part of the Xbox’s future.
If Gardiner’s figure is accurate, and if Miller’s claim about id’s programming talent is even closer to the mark, this may represent more than the usual round of layoffs. It would be a loss of technical memory behind one of the most important FPS studios in the world.
