id Software layoffs affect 136 roles in total
Following the recent news of layoffs affecting id Software, a WARN notice — a mandatory legal document required in the US prior to mass layoffs — has revealed the full scale of the cuts in Texas. According to a report by Game Developer, ZeniMax Media laid off a total of 158 employees in the state.
The majority of these cuts impacted id Software directly, with 136 roles eliminated. The layoffs hit 96 employees at the studio's office in Richardson, Texas, as well as 40 remote workers reporting to that location. The remaining 22 layoffs took place at Bethesda Game Studios in Austin. Out of the 158 total affected workers across both studios, 146 were represented by the Communication Workers of America labor union.
Anonymous sources told Game Developer that the cuts amount to approximately half of the id Software team, noting that the quality assurance department was heavily impacted.
An internal email from Bethesda president Jill Braff indicated that the restructuring is meant to shift the company's focus toward its strongest core franchises, specifically listing Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake. A source corroborated this, adding that Bethesda aims to improve collaboration between development teams and does not plan to close any existing studios as part of the reorganization.
The majority of these cuts impacted id Software directly, with 136 roles eliminated. The layoffs hit 96 employees at the studio's office in Richardson, Texas, as well as 40 remote workers reporting to that location. The remaining 22 layoffs took place at Bethesda Game Studios in Austin. Out of the 158 total affected workers across both studios, 146 were represented by the Communication Workers of America labor union.
Anonymous sources told Game Developer that the cuts amount to approximately half of the id Software team, noting that the quality assurance department was heavily impacted.
An internal email from Bethesda president Jill Braff indicated that the restructuring is meant to shift the company's focus toward its strongest core franchises, specifically listing Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake. A source corroborated this, adding that Bethesda aims to improve collaboration between development teams and does not plan to close any existing studios as part of the reorganization.
