--- title: Microsoft DOOMs ID with layoffs | TheStandup | daily.dev description: Microsoft has laid off 1,600 employees from Xbox and its studios, with approximately 132-135 coming from id Software, effectively gutting the engine team... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-dooms-id-with-layoffs-thestandup-v1n9mfj2f twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Microsoft DOOMs ID with layoffs | TheStandup | daily.dev og:description: Microsoft has laid off 1,600 employees from Xbox and its studios, with approximately 132-135 coming from id Software, effectively gutting the engine team... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-dooms-id-with-layoffs-thestandup-v1n9mfj2f og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/V1N9MfJ2F.png og:image:alt: Microsoft DOOMs ID with layoffs | TheStandup og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Microsoft DOOMs ID with layoffs | TheStandup **[ThePrimeTime](https://daily.dev/sources/primeagen)** · 11 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Microsoft has laid off 1,600 employees from Xbox and its studios, with approximately 132-135 coming from id Software, effectively gutting the engine team behind the DOOM series. Game programmer Casey Muratori discusses the implications for id Software's future, explaining that the hardest part of engine development isn't writing code but rather the research and experimentation required to determine what to build — from dynamic lighting strategies to level-of-detail systems. He notes that AI cannot yet meaningfully replace that human-driven experimentation loop, and that the cost and time involved remain substantial. The conversation concludes that id Software's ability to continue producing technically ambitious games is severely compromised, though the full picture depends on details not yet publicly known. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How many people were laid off from id Software in the Microsoft Xbox layoffs? Approximately 132 to 135 people were laid off from id Software, about 10% of the total 1,600 layoffs announced across Xbox. Much of id's engine team, along with designers and other staff, was cut, raising doubts about the studio's ability to continue producing new engine technology independently. _Developers tracking industry upheaval at studios like id Software can follow ongoing coverage on daily.dev._ ### Why is building a game engine hard even with AI coding tools? The hardest part of modern engine development is not writing code but figuring out what to build through iterative experimentation, such as deciding on strategies for dynamic lighting or level of detail as hardware capabilities shift. AI agents still require significant human guidance to design test cases and evaluate results, and running large-scale experiments can cost thousands of dollars and weeks of testing time, with no proven speedups yet seen in this domain. _Engineers weighing AI's real impact on complex systems work like engine development can dig deeper on daily.dev._ --- Tags: [#microsoft](https://daily.dev/tags/microsoft), [#xbox](https://daily.dev/tags/xbox) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-dooms-id-with-layoffs-thestandup-v1n9mfj2f) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Microsoft DOOMs ID with layoffs | TheStandup","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-dooms-id-with-layoffs-thestandup-v1n9mfj2f","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-dooms-id-with-layoffs-thestandup-v1n9mfj2f"},"datePublished":"2026-07-12T13:01:19.142Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T19:27:14.217Z","description":"Microsoft has laid off 1,600 employees from Xbox and its studios, with approximately 132-135 coming from id Software, effectively gutting the engine team...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KO1LB7ccfdY/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KO1LB7ccfdY/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"ThePrimeTime","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ThePrimeTime","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--J5-GjDeo--/f_auto/v1704628081/logos/primeagen.jpg","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/primeagen"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-dooms-id-with-layoffs-thestandup-v1n9mfj2f","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"microsoft,xbox","timeRequired":"PT11M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"Microsoft DOOMs ID with layoffs | TheStandup","description":"Microsoft has laid off 1,600 employees from Xbox and its studios, with approximately 132-135 coming from id Software, effectively gutting the engine team...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KO1LB7ccfdY/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-07-12T13:01:19.142Z","duration":"PT11M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/V1N9MfJ2F","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/KO1LB7ccfdY"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ThePrimeTime","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/primeagen"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Microsoft DOOMs ID with layoffs | TheStandup"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-dooms-id-with-layoffs-thestandup-v1n9mfj2f#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How many people were laid off from id Software in the Microsoft Xbox layoffs?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Approximately 132 to 135 people were laid off from id Software, about 10% of the total 1,600 layoffs announced across Xbox. Much of id's engine team, along with designers and other staff, was cut, raising doubts about the studio's ability to continue producing new engine technology independently. Developers tracking industry upheaval at studios like id Software can follow ongoing coverage on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why is building a game engine hard even with AI coding tools?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The hardest part of modern engine development is not writing code but figuring out what to build through iterative experimentation, such as deciding on strategies for dynamic lighting or level of detail as hardware capabilities shift. AI agents still require significant human guidance to design test cases and evaluate results, and running large-scale experiments can cost thousands of dollars and weeks of testing time, with no proven speedups yet seen in this domain. Engineers weighing AI's real impact on complex systems work like engine development can dig deeper on daily.dev."}}]} ```