id Software Lost About Half Its Studio in Xbox Reset, Co-Director Says
About half of id Software has left the studio after cuts linked to Xbox's business reset. Co-studio director Marty Stratton says the team is "doing great."
Stratton made the remarks in an interview with GamesBeat published on 1 November 2026 (GMT). He told the outlet that about half of the studio exited as part of the layoffs. He also said he and the team are doing well. Earlier that week, he had said the same thing to reporters at a press event, and IGN first reported those comments.
id Software makes the Doom and Quake series. Its games run on a software engine called id Tech, which handles graphics, physics and much of the work behind the scenes. The first wave of Xbox reset cuts, in July, included developers who worked on that engine.
The reset is the work of Asha Sharma, chief executive of Xbox, which is Microsoft's gaming division. Xbox's reset will ultimately cut 3,200 jobs across that division, according to Eurogamer. The cuts sit inside a wider move at Microsoft. In early July, the company announced 4,800 job cuts, about 2.1% of its global workforce, as Reuters reported.
id Software has two co-studio heads. Marty Stratton is one. Hugo Martin is the other. Stratton said the studio is now "working more closely than ever" with MachineGames, the Xbox-owned studio that makes the Wolfenstein games. IGN reported that same closer working relationship on 30 October 2026.
The GamesBeat conversation also covered a Slaughter Mode update for Doom. It focused on what the smaller studio means for the games it makes and how the two teams are sharing that work.
For players, the immediate question is what the studio can still deliver, and the interviews so far point to continued work on Doom with a smaller team and closer ties to MachineGames.
