John Carmack has weighed in on the gutting of id Software, and his take cuts straight to the heart of why the legendary shooter studio lost nearly half its workforce this week.
The legendary programmer and co-founder of id Software didn't rage or rage against the machine. Instead, he offered something more useful: cold clarity. In a social media post responding to the layoffs that eliminated 96 positions in Richardson, Texas, plus 40 remote roles, Carmack acknowledged he couldn't muster "anger or outrage." What he offered instead was a diagnosis.
"To continue being produced long term, games need to succeed, not just be beloved," Carmack wrote. That single sentence explains why Microsoft's new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been swinging an axe through the gaming division, cutting 1,600 jobs this week alone with another 1,600 to follow by year's end.
The cuts represent Sharma's broader "reset" of Microsoft's gaming business, a strategic pivot that has already closed four studios with more expected to shutter. id Software, home of the Doom and Quake franchises, suddenly finds itself on the chopping block despite a recent string of solid releases.
Carmack's analysis suggests id operated as what he termed a "marginal business" for Microsoft, a studio that couldn't generate the revenue necessary to justify its ongoing operation. He cited reports that Minecraft profits had been subsidizing other Xbox studios, a dynamic that is no longer sustainable under Sharma's restructuring.
The math here is straightforward. Yes, the 2016 Doom reboot was excellent. Doom Eternal in 2020 won fans back after the underwhelming Rage 2. Last year's Doom: The Dark Ages delivered quality work. But none of these titles achieved Call of Duty-level sales, and for a studio operating under Microsoft's corporate umbrella, that gap mattered.
Carmack didn't dodge the harder questions either. He listed the possibilities that might have saved id: different pricing strategies, more monetizable content, better marketing reach, broader game design appeal, or simply lower production costs. "I really don't know," he concluded, which is perhaps the most honest assessment an industry veteran could offer about a studio's demise.
The timeline suggests poor planning accelerated the crisis. Reports indicate id was developing new concepts including a John Wick-style original IP and a multiplayer Doom game. Neither was ready to launch alongside The Dark Ages, leaving the studio vulnerable when Microsoft's financial reckoning arrived.
John Romero, another co-founder, had already publicly offered support to laid-off staff earlier this week. He stressed that Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein represent heavy legacies to carry forward. His message implicitly acknowledged what Carmack's analysis confirms: the industry has moved past sentiment and into pure arithmetic.
The studio's immediate future remains murky. Some observers worry id could be downgraded to support status, stripped of its independence and reduced to assisting other Xbox projects. That possibility would mark a stunning reversal for a studio that essentially invented the modern first-person shooter.
Author Emily Chen: "Carmack's refusal to blame executives while acknowledging the brutal economics of gaming feels like wisdom the industry desperately needs to hear right now."
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