The co-founder of id Software, John Carmack, said that he was saddened by the number of employees who lost their jobs in that team, but he believed that Microsoft had a valid reason for their move.
This week, Microsoft fired half of the employees of the legendary team id Software – as many as 136 of them. It shocked and saddened many in the gaming industry, including the founders of that studio.
John Romero said that he felt sorry for all the employees who were affected by the contract termination because they did an excellent job in continuing the tradition of id Software with their last (Doom) games.
John Carmack said that he was saddened, but could not allow himself to be angry about what had happened.
“I don’t have access to the accounts, but I suspect that id Software was a marginal business for Microsoft. I believe reports that Minecraft revenue drives their studios. And games have to be successful to be produced long-term, not just loved. Games compete for our time and money with every other option, and the competition is brutal. We can’t rule out the possibility that the bosses are idiots, but that can’t be our initial thinking. I don’t think there was any obvious way id Software’s game revenue could double.” – said Carmack.
According to some claims, Xbox eliminated almost the entire id Software team that was in charge of developing the id Tech engine. However, sources close to Microsoft state that the use of id Tech is still planned and the next Wolfenstein game could be made on that engine.