Microsoft’s massive layoffs could deal a massive blow to the famous FPS studio.
Loss Creator id Software lays off about 50 percent of its staff, Game developer reports. The job cuts at id Software are part of larger mass layoffs announced by Microsoft on Monday, primarily focused on Xbox and its game studios.
Although neither Microsoft nor id Software have officially acknowledged the layoffs, a former studio staffer, Michael Maynard, echoed the 50% figure on LinkedIn. According to at least one of the Game developerAccording to ‘s sources, this could result in around 90 job cuts, although it is not yet clear which departments at id Software have been hit hardest.
Woozad has reached out to Microsoft for more information on the id Software layoffs. We will update this article if we receive a response.
Like several other Xbox studios, id Software is unionized with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). While Microsoft’s labor neutrality agreement with the CWA meant the developer’s “wall-to-wall” union was immediately recognized in 2025, studio staff have yet to reach an agreement with the company on an initial contract. In a statement released in response to the layoffs at Xbox, CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. said Microsoft “slowed down unions at the bargaining table,” preventing them from accessing the protections of a collective bargaining agreement. In the same statement, CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis said the union would demand, among other things, “immediate negotiations” on a “fair severance package.”
Bloomberg reported yesterday that as part of Xbox’s “reset”, ZeniMax Media, the parent company of id Software, would now focus on its biggest franchises – like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Wolfenstein and Doom. It’s possible that this motivated the cuts at id Software, but the developer, at least outwardly, already seems heavily focused on Doom. The studio launched Doom: Dark Ages in 2025 and an expansion of the game on July 7, 2026. Whatever the reason, the cuts at Xbox are not over: if Microsoft has cut 1,600 positions alongside the announcement of the restructuring of Xbox, it still plans to lay off another 1,600 employees over the coming months.
