id Software After Layoffs: Only One Dev Remains on id Tech for Xbox
Xbox’s recent wave of mass layoffs has hit id Software particularly hard, leaving the veteran studio effectively gutted. Reports say 136 employees have been let go, a move that dramatically reshapes how the team can continue its work.
In fact, the situation around id Tech is even more worrying: only one employee is reportedly still assigned to the studio’s proprietary id Tech engine. One staff contact described the problem as bigger than staffing—claiming the engine may not even be patchable anymore without support from someone who has already been laid off.
“The institutional knowledge is just not there,” one source said. In their view, id Tech as a technology is likely “dead forever,” and they also argued that updating or patching the engine would require bringing back help from engineers who were cut in the layoffs.
There’s one potential wrinkle for Xbox, though. id Software’s Frankfurt office reportedly still has personnel working on the id Tech engine, and those employees reportedly haven’t been laid off—possibly due to German labor rules. That could give Xbox a path to shifting more engine-related tasks toward the remaining team in Germany.
Layoffs, id Tech staffing, and what Xbox says it’s still doing
| Item | Reported detail |
|---|---|
| id Software layoffs | 136 employees laid off |
| Remaining id Tech work (main team) | Only one employee reportedly still working on id Tech |
| Ability to patch id Tech | Reportedly unlikely without help from laid-off engineers |
| Frankfurt office status | Engine work continues there; those employees reportedly not yet laid off |
Despite all of that, Xbox has reportedly signaled that it still wants to find a way to use id Tech. A source said Xbox plans to keep leveraging the engine for future projects.
That isn’t entirely out of nowhere. MachineGames is still using id Tech for its releases, and the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is built on a modified version of the engine known as Motor.
Even so, it’s hard to imagine Xbox will be able to get much mileage out of an engine without the people who have been actively supporting and evolving it for years. Still, the lack of long-term planning implied by these moves doesn’t come as a complete shock, given how the company has handled recent restructuring.
For id Software itself, the studio’s direction now looks uncertain, with most of its workforce gone. Before the layoffs, id Software had been preparing to pitch multiple games to Xbox—covering a Perfect Dark reboot, a John Wick-inspired cyberpunk title, and a co-op Doom project—but those plans appear to have been wiped out by the cuts.
It’s also being reported that the 136 layoffs represent close to three-quarters of id Software’s full headcount, underscoring how much institutional capacity has been removed.
Meanwhile, Bethesda’s internal messaging suggests a broader shift in how development priorities will be handled across the company. In a memo to employees, Bethesda president Jill Braff wrote that the organization is moving away from a planning approach focused on what comes next for each independent studio. The goal, she said, is to center decisions on Bethesda’s strongest franchises and build a content roadmap that best serves players and the company as a whole.
Put simply, the expectation is that studios will increasingly support development tied to Bethesda’s biggest properties. That lines up with other reporting suggesting Obsidian is beginning work on a Fallout project, with Josh Sawyer leading the effort.
What that could mean for id Software is still unclear, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the studio gets shifted into a support role—keeping the lights on for engine or franchise assistance rather than acting as a primary production team for new pitches.
