Layoffs have dominated the news this week with over 9,000 people being let go from jobs at Microsoft. Doom designer John Romero’s studio is one of many caught up in the layoffs as the company revealed that an unnamed publisher had pulled funding for Romero Games’ upcoming project with an official statement reading: “This absolutely isn’t a reflection of the team’s work, performance, or quality of the project itself. We hit every milestone on time, every time, and consistently received high praise, and easily passed all internal gates.”
Following the official announcement, numerous former Romero Games staff members took to LinkedIn to write that they had been laid off due to the funding cuts and were now seeking new employment opportunities. Since then, many outlets reported that Romero Games had been shut down due to the funding cut and that the studio’s new AAA FPS IP would no longer see the light of day.
A new statement from Romero Games has clarified “inaccuracies” that were present in other reports. The first piece of information is that the unnamed publisher officially canceled the upcoming game, and that the studio has been “contacted by several publishers interested in helping us bring the game across the finish line, and we’re currently evaluating those opportunities.” This means that while the original publisher canceled the project, it may still be completed and released under a new publisher.
Romero Games also states that it cannot name the publisher “due to confidentiality agreements,” but suggests that people have inferred it from public information. Aside from the timing of the announcement, it is believed that the publisher was Xbox and Microsoft, based on comments from several former employees on social media. While a large number of staff have been let go, the studio emphasises that “Romero Games is not closed, and we are doing everything in our power to ensure that it does not come to that.”
There were several reports claiming that the studio had been shut down, which began on the day the initial statement was released (Thursday, July 3, 2025). However, this new statement completely denies these claims, writing: “Any claims [that the studio has closed] are completely false. Indeed we were in the studio today to discuss the next steps with the team.”
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