Following quick-fire rumours (and denials) late last year regarding the shaky future of id Software and the continued development of DOOM 4 (or ‘the next DOOM game’), it’s been confirmed that a number of developers have been let go from the studio.
As has become du jour, the news sparked on Twitter as 3D artist and Polycount.com editor Adam Bromell posted:
“Some layoffs at idSoftware today, perhaps more to come later.”
This news was followed up by consumer site Joystiq which received a statement from id Software parent company Bethesda Softworks, reading:
“As part of its standard business practice, id regularly evaluates staffing to ensure it has a workforce that meets the needs of the studio. As part of that process, some id employees were recently let go.”
According to the statement, “development work on future id titles continues unabated” at id Software and that the studio is still “recruiting and hiring qualified developers.”
Does this mean that the next DOOM game from id Software is still in the works? And that use of the words ”qualified developers” is a little pointed - was the company and Bethesda not happy with the quality of work some employees were churning out?
Speculation on my part, but the fact remains that developers have unfortunately lost their jobs, but id Software seems to be in no more trouble than it was after shipping RAGE last year.
Source: Adam Bromell on Twitter and Joystiq
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Comments:
I would love to work for id Software, they are legends. I believe strongly that they ARE working on a new DOOM. Why won't they do a new doom game, it's there baby.
Why is always the lower placed employees that suffers when something big fails. I feel sorry for those people you lost there jobs.
I feel that id software is a great developer of yesteryear, but unfortunately a mediocre developer by current standards. Even though they practically invented the FPS genre, they haven't grown enough as a company to break into the current generation properly.
id is to me one of the leading game design companies, they havnt pushed out as much as the other gaming companies, but i know that when it does come its going to be huge, me and POItjie both follow John Carmack he is the awesomesauce.
Wait.....what you saying there MacDeath???? I don't like the tone you just said it in. I think if they go back to what they do best (DOOM & Quake) then they will be a big hit. RAGE was something new they were trying out. I really love RAGE, just need to put more hours into it.