Former id Software producer Andrew Willis has described the online meeting in which 95 employees were told that their positions had been eliminated. According to Willis, staff knew that layoffs were possible but expected id Software to be largely unaffected because the studio was already operating with a small team. He said employees considered zero to two layoffs the most likely outcome, while around 20 was viewed as the worst-case scenario.
In an interview with Kiwi Talkz, Willis said he was driving to the office when a teammate told him to check Slack. A message from Marty Stratton instructed employees not to come in, and Willis later received an Outlook invitation to an online meeting scheduled to begin in around 10 minutes.
Willis assumed that there would be separate meetings for employees being laid off and those remaining with the studio. He initially believed that he had been invited to the layoff meeting, but began to doubt it after checking the attendee list. Among the participants were Billy Khan, id Software’s director of engine technology, the studio’s engine team and a number of senior employees and leads.
I’m in here, but they’re also in here, so it can’t be that bad.
All cameras and chat were disabled, while participant microphones were muted. Stratton was the only speaker and informed those on the call that their positions had been eliminated, that access would be removed that day and that further questions about severance should be directed through the union. Willis estimated that the meeting lasted around 40-50 seconds.
He said the call was the final direct communication with id Software or Microsoft for many of those affected. Employees were not allowed to return to the office themselves to collect their belongings, while around 30-40 former colleagues met at a local pub after the announcement.
The interview provides additional first-hand detail following the initial report on the id Software layoffs and the subsequent report on their wider impact on the studio and Quake.
