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[GrayChild]

DOOM co-creator John Romero’s entire Romero Games studio has been let go following Microsoft layoffs as Xbox cuts funding for new FPS

Microsoft layoffs have resulted in cut funding for independant studio Romero Games as the studio lays off its entire workforce.

www.videogamer.com

In the wake of mass industry layoffs at Microsoft—which has resulted in the cancellation of key Xbox titles Everwild, Perfect Dark, and an unannounced MMO—the small game studio is said to have laid off all developers working on its unannounced FPS title.

Following the layoffs across key Microsoft developers Blizzard, Turn 10, Halo Studios, Playground Games, Rare, Treyarch, Infinity Ward, Raven Software and more, former Romero Games employees confirmed that the studio has been let go.

In a statement on social media, Brenda Romero confirmed that the studio "learned that out publisher has canceled funding for our game along with several other unannounced projects at other studios". Prior to today, it was not publicly known that Microsoft was funding Romero Games' next project.

"We're currently evaluating next steps and working quickly to support our team," Romero continued. "Many of us have worked together for more than a decade, some for over 20 years. It's an extremely difficult day and we're heartbroken that it's come to this. If you know of any opportunities or ways you can help our incredible team, please reach out."

 

[Kuranghi]

Wtaf, its not like he's produces any certified hood classics like he used to any time recently but firing him and his team seems like a bad idea purely for nostalgia-optics reasons.

Now I want to know what the game was

 

[Inviusx]

Phil Spencer made him his bitch.

 

[nowhat]

So Microsoft was funding Daikatana 2.0? Great move, a sure hit.

 

[Skifi28]

Phil Spencer made him his bitch.

 

[DragonNCM]

Good, Romero is overrated. His last game was like 20 years ago ?

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

OD is also reportedly dropped by MS and 3rd party relations inside Xbox was hit hard with layoffs.

What a disaster, man.

 

[Punished Miku]

Wtaf, its not like he's produces any certified hood classics like he used to any time recently but firing him and his team seems like a bad idea purely for nostalgia-optics reasons.

Now I want to know what the game was

Technically not fired. They were never employing them. They were funding a 3rd party game and have since stopped. Unclear, but possible they can keep their progress and try to get someone else to fund it.

I'm definitely curious what it is and hope they find a way to finish it.

 

[Calverz]

Sony should step in and try and get this project.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Good, Romero is overrated. His last game was like 20 years ago ?

And that was a piple of crap.

I didn't even know his studio was working for Xbox, if at all

 

[Buggy Loop]

Phil Spencer made him his bitch.

 

[Hudo]

Good, Romero is overrated. His last game was like 20 years ago ?

He and his wife released Empire of Sin in 2020, which was mid.

 

[Herr Edgy]

I got messaged about a role there on linkedin before, good thing I didn't follow up lol

RIP

 

[AJUMP23]

I think Romero will be able to find other work.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

I'm not cheering for them getting funding pulled without warning, that's fucking garbage as well considering they apparently saw something worth funding to begin with, but what "incredible team"? This dude seemingly does nothing but talk about 30 years ago once in a while and take pictures of his flowing mane. Where are these banger games made by this incredible team? Every single axed game has a supposedly INCREDIBLE, UNBELIEVABLE team.

This whole industry baffles me. From the outside and as a layman, it seems like an endless money pits of people "working on things" for almost a decade with no product to bring in cash. I just don't get how any of this works sometimes lol.

 

[Astray]

Wtaf, its not like he's produces any certified hood classics like he used to any time recently but firing him and his team seems like a bad idea purely for nostalgia-optics reasons.

Now I want to know what the game was

They're not fired per se.

MS dropped funding (because of course they did) so they're now having to shop the game around to find a publisher. Hope they land safe.

I'm not cheering for them getting funding pulled without warning, that's fucking garbage as well considering they apparently saw something worth funding to begin with, but what "incredible team"? This dude seemingly does nothing but talk about 30 years ago once in a while and take pictures of his flowing mane. Where are these banger games made by this incredible team? Every single axed game has a supposedly INCREDIBLE, UNBELIEVABLE team.

This whole industry baffles me. From the outside and as a layman, it seems like an endless money pits of people "working on things" for almost a decade with no product to bring in cash. I just don't get how any of this works sometimes lol.

So he's supposed to say "we're bad and we deserve it"?

 

[BennyBlanco]

I wonder what they were working on.

 

[Sebastian1295]

OD is also reportedly dropped by MS and 3rd party relations inside Xbox was hit hard with layoffs.

What a disaster, man.

Wth is OD even. We saw a leak of it awhile ago and it looked like the dumbest concept i've seen. I feel like kojima didn't have a cohesive plan for that project at all.

 

[SmokSmog]

Phil saw Doom The Dark Ages numbers and said no to FPS flops.

 

[diffusionx]

Xbox is fully transitioning (word chose intentionally) into the soulless corporate monster releasing generic slop it was always destined to be. Like the rest of the company.

He and his wife released Empire of Sin in 2020, which was mid.

They just released an expansion for it for some reason

After 4 years of silence, one of the most disappointing games of 2020 gets a surprise expansion

Empire of Sin: Hunt for Aurora introduces a new boss, guns, missions, and more.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[mrMUR_96]

Phil saw Doom The Dark Ages numbers and said no to FPS flops.

I would imagine most players are playing dark ages on gamepass instead of steam, so I don't think steam player count is super reliable in comparison.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Phil Spencer made him his bitch.

I knew I'd see it!

 

[Connificent]

Phil saw Doom The Dark Ages numbers and said no to FPS flops.

analog_future

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

Romero did two kickstarters and cancelled both, both promising he'd come back with a better, clear plan, and never did.

He hasn't released anything great in decades.

He's a cool dude and made some of the best games ever, but I'm not sure he was going to deliver anything here. I wish he would, though.

Hope for the best for his team.

 

[winjer]

Phil is on a killing spree.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

had no clue John Romero and MS were working together.

 

[FatallyYours]

Xbox is fully transitioning (word chose intentionally) into the soulless corporate monster releasing generic slop it was always destined to be. Like the rest of the company.



They just released an expansion for it for some reason

After 4 years of silence, one of the most disappointing games of 2020 gets a surprise expansion

Empire of Sin: Hunt for Aurora introduces a new boss, guns, missions, and more.

www.pcgamer.com

That wasn't romero.

They sold the game with a season pass saying there would be 2 DLC's. They did 1 and walked away, but still advertised and sold the game advertising 2 DLC's

They left Paradox in the lurch for years. The romero staff laughed and banned people in the discords and forums whenever people brought it up. It was a shit show

Anyway, Paradox must have wrestled the IP or something from them as another dev team made the recently released DLC

 

[Hudo]

Xbox is fully transitioning (word chose intentionally) into the soulless corporate monster releasing generic slop it was always destined to be. Like the rest of the company.



They just released an expansion for it for some reason

After 4 years of silence, one of the most disappointing games of 2020 gets a surprise expansion

Empire of Sin: Hunt for Aurora introduces a new boss, guns, missions, and more.

www.pcgamer.com

That's... weird. I thought it didn't do well. Interesting.

 

[Kacho]

Bummer. I didn't know Microsoft was funding that.

A triple A shooter from Romero would have been interesting even if it would have likely sucked.

 

[adamsapple]

Phil Spencer made him his bitch.

Hate to see people losing their jobs but this is a good one.

 

[Windom Earle]

Good, Romero is overrated. His last game was like 20 years ago ?

He was overrated in a brief pre-Daikatana time 25+ years ago. Now he is pretty much considered a joke/meme

 

[Mattyp]

I would imagine most players are playing dark ages on gamepass instead of steam, so I don't think steam player count is super reliable in comparison.

3 million players in just the first week, don't let that get in the way of some steam concurrent shit posting but.

 

[Rush2112]

What shitty doom spinoff got canceled I wonder?

 

[SkylineRKR]

Romero has always been overrated. He was the rockstar at ID, driving the fancy cars. But Carmack was the key figure. Since leaving the studio I don't think he did anything of note.

 

[Flabagast]

Why did he decide to partner with Xbox in the first place ? These people are cancer and should never be trusted.

 

[damidu]

What shitty doom spinoff got canceled I wonder?

the shitty doom spinoff released a month ago

 

[Wildebeest]

Romero has always been overrated. He was the rockstar at ID, driving the fancy cars. But Carmack was the key figure. Since leaving the studio I don't think he did anything of note.

His level design was very good, one of the most highly regarded of all time and inspired many people starting out, and he seems a good guy, but we haven't seem him have great success running a studio.

 

[TintoConCasera]

He's a great level designer. I still have to try Sigil II but the first one was pretty cool. Wonder what they were working on.

 

[RoboFu]

wow.... how long has this studio been working on nothing? lol Id say this layoff is warranted.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Romero compared to Carmack is stuck in the past, dude to this day keeps making doom 1993 based games while carmack made insane engines, built rockets and now works at VR.

 

[ResilientBanana]

They should look into 3D Realms. They're really picking the ball back up.

 

[Kadve]

Romero compared to Carmack is stuck in the past, dude to this day keeps making doom 1993 based games while carmack made insane engines, built rockets and now works at VR.

As Yahtzee pointed out they kinda needed each other. Carmack had the technological skill to make Romero's crazy visions work. While he had the charisma to make them sell.

 

[PlayStaytion]

Sony should step in and try and get this project.

Sony must make another PS2, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity and they must take it.

 

[DaciaJC]

Phil Spencer made him his bitch.

 

[Evil Calvin]

Last game was Empire of Sin.......didn't know they were even owned by Microsoft. Never saw that studio on any graphic.

 

[Evil Calvin]

Why did he decide to partner with Xbox in the first place ? These people are cancer and should never be trusted.

Pretty harsh.......Didn't your Sony company close some studios too?

 

[Griffon]

Sigil has shown that Romero still got it.

A new FPS from him would've been good. Shame that. I'm sure he'll manage to find new projects.

 

[spookyfish]

Phil Spencer made him his bitch.

Close the thread. We're done here.

 

[seething left]

Phil Spencer made him his bitch.

Came here only to read this.

 

[simpatico]

Should have made this move before they even got in trouble. Romero is not making another game guys. I don't know how some people still have hope. Guy has been collecting checks for more than two decades to just hang out and inhabit an office.