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Caught up within the wave of Xbox ‘reset’ layoffs that occurred final week, id Software has been hit significantly laborious. And whereas official statements given by the studio preserve that it is nonetheless of an honest sufficient measurement to make the sorts of video games it used to, that sentiment’s at odds with lots of the builders who had been laid off.
It’s even at odds with a number of the devs nonetheless working there. id Software producer Andrew Willis, who was a big a part of the studio’s efforts to unionise again in 2025, has made a collection of posts on LinkedIn that are nonetheless (understandably) livid, regardless of the studio’s official stance that issues aren’t all ruined.
“I think the only way to fix the video game industry at this point is for developer owned studios to start rising from these studio closures and layoffs,” writes Willis, “We’ve got to learn from the past, be fiscally responsible, and create an environment of sustainable growth (though growth should be a byproduct of success, not a goal in and of itself).”
A “return to growth” was, in spite of everything, talked about in Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s announcement. “we will return to growth in 2027”, Sharma said. Mind, that was also in the same post that announced there’d be another 1,600 layoffs happening by 2027, but hey. It’s a pretty standard tag-line for most big businesses—something to keep the shareholders happy.
Either way, Willis remains unimpressed: “It’s the only path forward I can see, and these large publishers and monopolies have proven themselves terrible stewards and somehow even worse financial managers. If the people who create the value own that value, good things will follow.”
In a follow-up post, Willis adds: “The games industry must change if it is going to create art and franchises that have long term sustainable value—right now it feels like the monopolies that control it are simply trying to extract as much goodwill and value (that took decades to build) as they can with little concern for the diminishing returns it’s leading to.
“This is what occurs when the individuals who management it (most ivy league MBAs) don’t play video games, have by no means shipped a sport, and essentially don’t perceive the business they handle. You’ll by no means get one other WoW or Morrowind within the present local weather.”
While I’m not wholly convinced that you need to play videogames to be in charge of a company that makes them, I do think you need to be humble enough to delegate or listen to the people who do—and humility is clearly rare within the executive suite.
I also agree with Willis’ assessment that you probably wouldn’t get another World of Warcraft in this climate—it’s something I’ve spoken to on our MMO column before. But, and this might be proving his point, I think we’re getting plenty of games that are at least on-par with the classics from smaller independent studios.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy, though. Studios like Larian, which is shareholder-free (okay, Tencent has a non-controlling stake, but it’s Tencent. Those guys are everywhere), are a bit of an anomaly—Larian itself surviving brushes with bankruptcy in the past. Point being, sticking it to the man is hard bloody work—worth doing, mind, but not a guarantee of safety for anybody.
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