We know another victim of Microsoft's layoffs. It's the studio of Doom and Quake co-creator, whose new game was essentially scrapped
Microsoft's massive layoffs have hit the Romero Games studio founded by the legendary developer. Allegedly, all members of the team responsible for Empire of Sin have lost their jobs.
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Yesterday we told you about the big layoffs at Microsoft, which heavily affected the gaming sector (a total of 9100 people were laid off from all departments). The restructuring affected studios like Rare, Turn 10, Sledgehammer, and ZeniMax. The layoffs at Blizzard led to the end of support for Warcraft Rumble. Today we learned about another team that found itself in this unlucky group.
Changes in Microsoft negatively affected Romero Games studio, founded by the legendary developer, John Romero (co-creator of the Doom and Quake series). In an official post, the developers of Empire of Sin informed that the publisher of their new project has withdrawn from its financing. Most likely it was about an FPS on Unreal Engine 5, about which we practically knew nothing. It was supposed to be a decision made "at the highest levels" of Microsoft and independent of the developers themselves.
This was a strategic decision made at a high level within the publisher, well above our visibility or control. We deeply wish there had been something, anything, we could have done to prevent this outcome.
Although the studio hasn't officially stated that this is strictly related to the recent layoffs at Microsoft, thanks to the posts of its (former) employees, we know that the project was not only canceled.Allegedly, all members of Romero Games have lost their jobs and are now looking for employment elsewhere - this is claimed by, among others, Leslie Stowe and Christoph Redl.
One of the employees of Romero Games studio (via IGN) directly wrote that the loss of "dream job" is related to the recent layoffs at Microsoft:
A very sad day. It breaks my heart to say that Romero Games fell victim to the 9,100 Microsoft layoffs today. The best team I've ever worked with and my dream job gone just like that. It really was a great project and it's hard to process that it's over. It's nothing less than tragic.
According to a statement from Romero Games, the cancellation of the unreleased game was not due to its quality, production delays, or the team's performance. This further confirms reports of a connection to layoffs at Microsoft. The team founded by John Romero is to "work on support" for its former members and asks for contact from people who could offer them work during this difficult time. Many developers are already looking for new jobs on their own.
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