[UPDATE] Romero Games Employee Says 'Whole Studio' Subject to Layoffs After Microsoft Pulls Funding for New Shooter from Doom Co-Creator John Romero

20 hours ago 3

UPDATE: A Romero Games worker has claimed that Microsoft's determination to propulsion backing from the studio's in-development task has led to the entirety of the workplace being laid off.

"Today I recovered retired our full workplace is being fto spell due to the fact that of the layoffs astatine Microsoft," the unit subordinate wrote via a station connected LinkedIn.

"A precise bittersweet day," wrote different worker impacted by layoffs. "It breaks my bosom to accidental that Romero Games fell unfortunate to the 9,100 Microsoft layoffs today. The champion squad I've ever worked with and my imagination occupation gone conscionable similar that. It truly was a large task and it's hard to process that it's over. It's thing little than tragic."

More than a twelve Romero Games employees person present publically stated they person been impacted by the layoffs and are present looking for work, according to LinkedIn profiles reviewed by IGN. Romero Games formally announced its backing had been pulled conscionable hours ago, arsenic elaborate below.

ORIGINAL STORY: Romero Games, the workplace founded by Doom co-creator John Romero and Brenda Romero, has said it has been near "heartbroken" aft discovering that backing for its adjacent task has been pulled, reportedly arsenic portion of Microsoft's latest cuts, leaving the crippled and its squad astatine risk.

In a statement, workplace manager Brenda Romero said the company's steadfast and fiscal spouse confirmed past nighttime it was walking distant from the task "along with respective different unannounced projects astatine different studios."

A abstracted station connected societal media, a now-former Romero Games worker stated that they are present retired of enactment astatine the developer "due to the caller Xbox layoffs." IGN has contacted Microsoft for comment.

The quality comes conscionable hours aft Microsoft's latest circular of wide layoffs impacted galore interior Xbox studios, resulting successful the cancellation of aggregate projects including Everwild and Perfect Dark, arsenic good arsenic other, unannounced titles that Microsoft had been funding.

"This was a strategical determination made astatine a precocious level wrong the publisher, good supra our visibility oregon control," Romero stated. "We profoundly privation determination had been something, anything, we could person done to forestall this outcome."

Romero suggested that the publisher's determination had travel arsenic a surprise, arsenic Romero Games had "hit each milestone connected time, each time, consistently received precocious priase, and easy passed each our interior gates".

For now, Romero Games said it was "currently evaluating adjacent steps and moving rapidly to enactment our team", and asked for anyone with "any opportunities oregon ways you tin assistance our unthinkable team" to "please scope out."

"These radical are the champion radical I've ever worked with," John Romero himself said, sharing the quality via societal media. "I'm atrocious to accidental that our crippled and our workplace were besides affected."

Romero Games' caller projects see 2019's Sigil and its 2023 sequel Sigil 2, arsenic good arsenic mafia strategy crippled Empire of Sin, launched successful 2020.

Little is known of what Romero Games had been moving connected for the past fewer years, different than it was a caller first-person shooter made with Unreal Engine 5. Back successful July 2022, the institution said it was expanding to enactment connected the task aft securing funding.

"It's a caller dawn for Romero Games," the workplace said astatine the time. "We're moving with a large steadfast to make John Romero's adjacent shooter: an all-new FPS with an original, caller IP."

Image credit: Shane Anthony Sinclair/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Read Entire Article