Bethesda Softworks, the parent company of id Software, has confirmed that a number of id Software employees were shown the door. Bethesda claims that this is a normal part of the company’s evaluation of staffing levels to make sure that the studio is staffed to meet current projects. Bethesda did not confirm how many were affected by the layoff and if any additional layoffs were coming.
Bethesda claims that it is still recruiting and hiring qualified developers for id Software. Bethesda was very careful to note that work on future id titles continues, despite the layoffs. The studio is currently working on Doom 4, which is the next chapter in the studio’s long running franchise.
It is unknown if talk over id’s latest release, Rage, played any role in the layoff decisions. While Rage didn’t sell quite as well as id expected, many in the media were very harsh on the title, citing a number of shortcomings in its development and game play. Expect to hear more about this as things settle in the weeks ahead.
