Xbox Layoffs Hit Bethesda Hard: id Software Vows to Keep Building Great Games

A sweeping new round of Xbox layoffs has struck several of Microsoft's most storied studios, with Bethesda properties bearing some of the heaviest losses. The cuts have impacted Bethesda Game Studios (the team behind The Elder Scrolls and Fallout), id Software (creators of Doom and Quake), and others under the Bethesda umbrella, raising serious questions about the futures of several high-profile franchises including Fallout 5, The Elder Scrolls 6, and the long-awaited Blade game.

Among the hardest-hit studios, id Software moved quickly to address public concern, issuing a statement confirming that roughly half of its staff lost their jobs in the cuts. Despite the severity, the studio pushed back against fears about its viability, writing on social media that it "still has the crew we need to build the games and tech we're known for." In a striking comparison, id noted that its team today is approximately the same size it was when it developed Doom (2016), a title widely regarded as one of the greatest first-person shooters ever made. The studio, which recently shipped an expansion for Doom: The Dark Ages, added simply: "We're going to keep building great games."

The news leaves a cloud of uncertainty hanging over several massive projects in development at Bethesda's family of studios, with fans and industry watchers alike wondering how the restructuring will affect timelines and creative capacity. Microsoft has yet to provide a full public accounting of the total number of employees affected across all studios, but the scale of the cuts signals yet another dramatic shift inside Xbox's publishing operation.

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