Texas Filing Shows Most of id Software’s Public Headcount Cut in Microsoft Xbox Layoffs

A Texas WARN filing shows 136 layoffs tied to id Software as part of Microsoft’s broader Xbox job cuts, a reduction that appears to remove most of the headcount publicly associated with the studio and has prompted former employees to say major technical knowledge was lost.

That scale stands out because id Software is not a large publisher division but a small, influential game developer best known for Doom and Quake. The studio has also long been associated with the id Tech engine family, technology that has powered modern Doom games and other projects inside Bethesda and ZeniMax. Cuts of this size therefore hit not just a famous brand, but a specialized team with deep institutional knowledge.

According to Game Developer’s reporting on a Texas WARN notice — a filing employers make before certain mass layoffs — ZeniMax Media listed 158 layoffs in the state. Game Developer reported that the filing breaks down into 96 layoffs at id Software’s Richardson, Texas, office, 40 remote roles reporting into that office, and 22 layoffs at Bethesda Game Studios’ Austin office. The 96 Richardson layoffs plus the 40 remote roles amount to 136 positions tied to id Software, according to that report.

As a reference point for the studio’s size, the Communications Workers of America said in a Dec. 12, 2025, press release that 165 id Software workers had formed a wall-to-wall union and described the studio as having about 185 employees. That is the latest public baseline cited in available reporting, not necessarily an exact count for July 2026. Even so, the WARN figure suggests a reduction affecting most of the publicly identified headcount associated with id.

Game Developer also reported that 146 of the 158 workers listed in the Texas WARN filing were represented by the CWA, the labor union that represents workers across several game studios. Several veteran id employees publicly confirmed they were among those laid off. Michael Maynard, a longtime gameplay systems programmer at id Software, wrote on LinkedIn: “Yes, I was part of the team (roughly 50% of the company) that was let go today.” Derek Best, id Software’s former principal VFX artist, wrote that “Collectively decades of knowledge was wiped out of the studio.” In another comment quoted by VGC, Best added: “Great job Microsoft. Nothing says business success like nuking a team into the dirt and relegating them to support studio size while also throwing out massive technological achievements.”

Multiple outlets reported that quality assurance and engine and tooling roles were heavily affected, based on employee posts, unnamed sources and the WARN reporting. Those functions can be especially important at a studio built around proprietary technology and long-running action franchises.

The cuts came within Microsoft’s wider restructuring of its gaming business. On July 6, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said in a memo, as reported by multiple outlets, that Xbox would “reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27,” with about 1,600 role eliminations starting immediately. Microsoft completed its acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of id Software and Bethesda, in 2021, placing the studio inside the Xbox organization now undergoing those reductions.

The timing also drew notice because the layoffs coincided with the launch window for DOOM: The Dark Ages — Revelations, downloadable content released July 7. Multiple outlets pointed to that overlap, underscoring how the cuts landed just as a new Doom release reached players.