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Carmack speaks out after Microsoft cuts jobs at id Software, raising questions about the studio’s future under Xbox.
id Software, the studio responsible for many beloved Xbox franchises like DOOM, Wolfenstein, Quake, and more, has seen a huge chunk of its staff laid off by Microsoft as part of the company's restructuring of the Xbox brand, resulting in over 3,200 people losing their jobs.
In the wake of this announcement, John Carmack, one of the founders of id Software (along with John Romero, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack), who also helped create the DOOM, Wolfenstein, and Quake franchises, has responded to it on social media with his thoughts on the situation.
Most responses to Xbox's mass layoffs, which were filled with anger and frustration, like former id Software animator Skai Chow's scathing message of "I hope our pain was worth it" or fear of the future, like Bethesda fearing that it will negatively impact the development of The Elder Scrolls 6, or even spell the end for Fallout 76 without help from an external studio.
However, John Carmack's response feels more neutral by comparison. While he was definitely sad (while admitting that his comment on Microsoft being a good steward of the brand isn't aging well), he couldn't bring himself to be angry or disappointed by these layoffs by saying, "I’m saddened, but I can’t muster anger or outrage over it. I don’t have access to the books, but I suspect that Id Software was a marginal business from Microsoft’s perspective. I believe the reports that Minecraft revenues have been carrying several other studios."
John Carmack then stated that at the end of the day, the gaming industry is a brutal business with tons of competitors vying for your time and money, and if you're not successful financially, you'll get left behind regardless of how beloved your creation is.
John Carmack was one of the lead programmers behind the original DOOM from 1993.
(Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)
In addition, while it's easy to point the blame at Microsoft's higher-ups, John Carmack says that "You can’t rule out the possibility that executives are idiots, but that shouldn’t be your default belief. I don’t think there is any obvious path that would have doubled the revenue from Id games."
He asks what kinds of strategies id Software could've done to prevent this, like using a different pricing strategy, creating more things for fans to buy, or using a cost-effective marketing scheme to reach out to more players.
He ultimately has no answer for this conundrum, but John Carmack does know that it's not over yet, and he hopes that id Software bounces back from this grievous blow.
Windows Central's take
While I personally don't know the answer to this question myself, I do know that my colleague, Jez Corden, says that rumors of id Software's demise are greatly exaggerated.
While the job cuts have been brutal to the point where they put the kibosh on Id Software's pitches for a Perfect Dark reboot and a John Wick-style game, Microsoft has not announced any plans of closing id Software down any time soon.
In fact, Microsoft has even released a statement to us regarding the rumors of the job cuts putting id Software's lauded id Tech (an engine that has greatly optimized the performance of games like the modern DOOM games and Indiana Jones & The Great Circle) on ice, which says, "There are dozens of people working on id Tech across multiple locations. Reports that there’s only one person left in Texas are inaccurate."
Either way, I hope id Software does survive this tumultuous time in gaming. They produced some of the most awesome first-person shooters I've ever played, like DOOM (2016) and DOOM: Eternal, and it would be an utter travesty for the studio to close for good.
Stay tuned for more news as we keep an eye out for further developments regarding the damages caused by Xbox's company-wide "Reset".
Hope you enjoyed this news post. Feedback welcome.
Posted Sunday 12 July 2026 at 7:38 am AEST (my time).
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