An id Software developer says things inside Xbox are “very chaotic” after layoffs. According to them, the clearest message from leadership is simple: Make more money, and make it fast.
The comments come from a report by Aftermath. The outlet describes the speaker as a current id Software employee. They stayed anonymous because they aren’t allowed to speak publicly.
“Things are still very chaotic,” the employee said.
They admitted that leadership has tried to talk to studios. They just weren’t impressed with what they heard. The employee called the messaging “bullshit corporate speak.”
The main complaint is about direction.
“I still don’t believe they have a clear vision for the future,” the employee said. The one concrete thing they say they’ve been told is that leadership wants “higher profits, and they want it now.”
The employee also said “aggressive goals are being set.” They added that these goals would have been unrealistic even before the layoffs.
Morale sounds rough. The employee said workers have a “dim view of the future.”
How id fits into Xbox
id Software is the studio behind Doom and Quake. Microsoft got it through its purchase of ZeniMax Media, Bethesda’s parent company, in March 2021. Two years later, in October 2023, Microsoft closed its huge Activision Blizzard deal. Together, the two deals made Xbox’s studio list much bigger.
Not everyone reads the comments the same way. Some fans see them as proof that Xbox is cutting jobs without a working strategy. Others argue that cutting costs and merging teams is a strategy. By that view, the problem isn’t a missing plan. It’s that employees don’t like the plan or haven’t been told the details.
