Id Software lead services provider Chris Hayes has touched on the mass layoffs that hit numerous Xbox-owned studios over the summer, insisting it’s now “impossible” to developer triple-A games like DOOM (2016) following the job losses.
“It is hard to make a game that is triple-A, that is like we’ve done before, with half the people. And by hard I mean impossible,” said Hayes, during a chat on the Well Played podcast. “It’s hard to make a game when there are entire departments that you need: entire disciplines that are gone.”
Hayes noted that there have been reassurances from bigwigs following the layoffs that “we are still the same id,” despite previous reports that the studio had been gutted as a result of the cuts. However, Hayes argued, “We’re not the same id. We’re half the same id.” He believes these reassurances are being issued to stop the remaining staff at Id from leaving.
They don’t understand art, they don’t understand games, they don’t understand the business model. When you cut half of a studio, and don’t take into account how [a game] is made, you don’t understand that the cohesion between our teams was what made us successful.
Hugo Martin, the director of DOOM: The Dark Ages, previously denied reports that the studio had been nerfed into the ground, stating they are “the size we were when we made DOOM 2016.” However, speaking to Game Developer, a number of current and former members of id Software disagreed with Martin’s comments.
[Source – Well Played Podcast via Eurogamer]