Brenda Romero and John Romero said that they have had to lay off staff as a result of a surprise move by their game publisher to cancel a title that Romero Games was working on.
They didn’t say how many were affected or what game was canceled.
The cofounders who brought us games like Doom, Daikatana, Doom II, Quake, Ravenwood Fair, Sigil, and Empire of Sin said they were forced to lay off people after the publisher told them last night.
Another employee said that Microsoft was the publisher, and that adds up as Microsoft announced 9,100 layoffs yesterday, including many at game studios. Microsoft canceled the Perfect Dark game and shut the developer The Initiative. And reports indicated that studios like Raven Software (Call of Duty), Turn 10 (Forza), Rare’s Everwild team, and King (Candy Crush) were hit as well.
“A very sad day,” an employee wrote about the layoffs. “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.
John Romero said in a tweet, “These people are the best people I’ve ever worked with, and I’m sorry to say that our game and our studio were also affected.” On LinkedIn, he highly recommended employees who were out of work.
Here’s Brenda Romero’s statement on Twitter (X).
“We have some difficult news to share. Last night, we learned that our publisher has canceled funding for our game along with several other unannounced projects at other studios. 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.
This absolutely isn’t a reflection of our team’s work, performance, or the quality of the project itself. We hit every milestone on time, every time, consistently received high praise and easily passed all our internal gates. We are incredibly proud of the work being done, and of the talented team behind it. The best we’ve worked with.
We’re currently evaluating next steps and working quickly to support our team. 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. Thank you to everyone who’s offered support and kindness and encouragement during this difficult time.”
