John Carmack, cofounder of id Software who left the pioneering game studio in 2013, offered his words of mourning for the layoffs at id Software.
In a message on Twitter (X), he said he has been trying to find something meaningful to say about the id Software layoffs.
He noted that his earlier statement, “Microsoft will probably be a good steward of the brand” isn’t aging well, and “this is certainly going to dampen the mood of the founder reunion at QuakeCon next month.” Carmack and three other cofounders of id are gathering in August in Dallas for a panel on the 30th anniversary of Quake and the 35th anniversary of id Software.
Under Carmack and the cofounders, the small team revolutionized the gaming business in the 1990s with the creation of the first-person shooter games. They created Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake. id Software was still working on Doom titles (and a little on Quake) as it was hit by layoffs of roughly 158 people out of nearly 200. The layoffs were part of Microsoft’s 3,200 layoffs this week (and in the coming year) on the Xbox team. It was part of a decision by new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to “reset” the Xbox business to deal with a tougher business climate.
“I’m saddened, but I can’t muster anger or outrage over it. I don’t have access to the books, but I suspect that Id Software was a marginal business from Microsoft’s perspective. I believe the reports that Minecraft revenues have been carrying several other studios,” Carmack wrote.
Carmack’s full statement
I have been trying to find something meaningful to say about the Id Software layoffs.
My “Microsoft will probably be a good steward of the brand” statement isn’t aging well, and this is certainly going to dampen the mood of the founder reunion at QuakeCon next month.
I’m saddened, but I can’t muster anger or outrage over it. I don’t have access to the books, but I suspect that Id Software was a marginal business from Microsoft’s perspective. I believe the reports that Minecraft revenues have been carrying several other studios.
To continue being produced long term, games need to succeed, not just be beloved.
Games are competing with every other option for spending your leisure time and money, and the competition is brutal.
You can’t rule out the possibility that executives are idiots, but that shouldn’t be your default belief. I don’t think there is any obvious path that would have doubled the revenue from Id games.
Could they have gotten more with a different pricing strategy?
Could they have created more things for fans to buy?
Could they have cost effectively marketed in a way that reached more players that would have loved and bought the games?
Could they have changed the game designs and broadened the appeal to more players without alienating existing ones?
Could they have produced the games at a lower cost, faster or cheaper?
I really don’t know.
The game isn’t over yet, and I hope the studio rallies through.