Doom co-creator John Romero has lost funding for his upcoming FPS game after industry-wide layoffs at Xbox triggered a wave of cutbacks, forcing his studio, Romero Games, to lay off most of its staff.
The Xbox layoffs, which impacted over 9,000 staff, have taken a toll on countless games, with some losing 10% of their workforce, others losing their publishing funding, and a few being cancelled altogether.
One such casualty is legendary creator John Romero’s upcoming game, an unnamed FPS title made by Romero Games, which has now had its funding pulled.
FPS game from Doom creator no longer has a publisher
In a statement posted to Bluesky, Romero Games confirmed that the studio’s next title has had its funding pulled. “Last night, we learned that our publisher has canceled funding for our game,” he wrote. “We’re currently evaluating next steps and working quickly to support our team.”
The now-canceled project was a new, original FPS developed in Unreal Engine 5. It was set to be Romero Games’ biggest release since 2019’s Empire of Sin.
While Romero didn’t name the publisher, one former employee has directly linked the decision to Microsoft’s recent wave of layoffs. “Unfortunately, due to the recent Xbox layoffs, I’ve lost my position at Romero Games,” they wrote.
Another employee, Leslie Stowe, stated: “Today I found out our whole studio is being let go because of the layoffs at Microsoft.” The message suggests Romero Games is laying off most, if not all, of its team.
The project’s collapse appears to be part of a chain reaction. Microsoft recently laid off over 9,000 employees across Xbox, while also shutting down multiple games, including Perfect Dark and Everwild.
Romero Games has not confirmed the number of layoffs or whether it will continue operating in any capacity to release the highly anticipated game.
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