Microsoft Says id Tech Expertise Survived id Software’s Brutal Layoffs – WGB

UPDATE: Jez Corden of Windows Central released a new report that includes comments from a Microsoft/Xbox spokesperson.

Corden confirms what I covered in the original version of the story: Xbox still wants to use the id Tech engine. He also says that the rumors that id Tech knowledge is disappearing are exaggerated.

“Sources tell me there’s still a lot of id Tech technology left at id Software itself, as well as Machine Games,” Corden said.

“Microsoft gave us this statement in the article: ‘There are many people working at id Tech in many places. Reports that there is only one person left in Texas are incorrect.’

Corden also says that the headcount at id Software is now almost the same as when the team shipped Doom (2016), saying that claims that they have cut back on the support studio are also false.

ORIGINAL STORY: Things continue to get incredibly confusing at id Software as more reports surface about the future of the popular Doom. the studio.

Recently, I filed claims that ID Software was apparently mulling several new ventures before the brutal demise of the Xbox, including a new Perfect Dark game, more Doom, and the first John Wick-style game. Now, new reporting raises even bigger questions about when ID Software’s future is left, especially when it comes to id Tech, the proprietary engine that has powered many of the Doom games, as well as the Wolfenstein series.

According to a new report from Kotaku, id Software’s engine team has been hit so hard that there may be only one person left at the studio who understands and can work on id Tech.

Thanks to the Texas WARN documents, we know that id Software has been hit with layoffs of 96 employees at its office in Richardson, Texas, and another 40 remote workers who have reported to the studio. The studio had about 185 employees at the end of last year, which means that Xbox appears to have fired most of its most important technical team.

“Key positions were cut and all teams were downsized,” three sources apparently told Kotaku. Most importantly, that reportedly includes the team responsible for id Tech.

Another source told Kotaku that they aren’t sure how the studio can continue to maintain the engine, suggesting that even patching id Tech may need to call in a new hire.

“The knowledge of the institution just doesn’t exist,” they said. “id Tech as a technology is almost dead forever.”

That already paints a bleak picture, but the situation is even worse when compared to another new report, this time from This Week in Videogames, a new website from Youtuber Skill Up. According to the outlet, a source with knowledge of Xbox systems says Microsoft still intends to use id Tech going forward.

Which, naturally, begs the obvious question: how?

The report points to the inclusion of Texas WARN, listing several roles lost during the cut:

• Director of Engine Technology
• Principal Engine Programmer (x2)
• Principal Full Stack Engineer
• Principal Tools Programmer
• Main Engine Organizer (x3)
• Senior Editor
• Engine Designer
• Tool Organizer (x2)

“In addition to these cuts, said a source with knowledge of the situation at Xbox This week in Video Games that Xbox still plans to work with id Tech going forward,” said Edmon Tran in the report.

In other words, Microsoft clearly still wants id Tech to have a future after putting a large portion of the people responsible for building, maintaining, and developing it.

That’s important because id Tech isn’t just a dusty relic sitting in the corner of id Software’s office. It has powered the modern Doom games, while technical branches have also been used by MachineGames for Wolfenstein and, more recently, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle with its custom version of id Tech’s Motor.

Meanwhile, an internal email from Bethesda president Jill Braff, published by IGN, said the company is moving away from a programming model based primarily on “what’s next” for each independent studio and toward one that focuses on Bethesda’s “strongest franchises.”

Braff does not appear to have named those franchises specifically in the memo. However, according to a report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, cited by Windows Central, he says that ZeniMax/Bethesda will not just be reduced to It falls again Scrolls of the Eldersand we will continue to work Wolfenstein, Annihilationagain An earthquake.

Which makes id Software’s situation even more insane.

Microsoft reportedly wants to continue using id Tech. Bethesda is reportedly on the mend Annihilation, An earthquakeagain Wolfenstein as part of its future big franchise. And yet id Software, the studio behind Annihilation and the team responsible for id Tech, has recently been completely shut down by layoffs.

If the reported numbers are accurate, there may be only 40 to 50 people currently left at id Software. That doesn’t seem to be enough to lead a brand new development Annihilation game, don’t worry save and improve the proprietary engine at the same time. And even if Microsoft intends to keep id Tech alive, who’s going to do that job if most of the engine team’s corporate knowledge has just been thrown out the door?

At this point, I have to assume that one or more of these various sources are wrong due to a strange contradiction, or that the Xbox has finally lost its remaining marbles. The second one looks more likely.