id Software layoffs reportedly cut around half the studio’s staff, Game Developer reported on July 7, 2026, the same day the studio’s Doom: The Dark Ages expansion arrived. Neither Microsoft nor id Software have formally acknowledged the cuts, and the studio’s more than 100 Communications Workers of America members are facing job losses without a first contract in place. The CWA says it will demand severance bargaining for affected workers, framing the moment as a direct consequence of Microsoft slowing union talks at the table.
The wall-to-wall union at id Software formed in 2025, a strong-majority vote Microsoft immediately recognized under a labor neutrality agreement with the CWA. That recognition gave workers a seat at the bargaining table, but no agreement has been finalized. The cuts were reported on July 7, 2026, the day ZeniMax Media, id Software’s parent, laid out a plan to refocus Bethesda and the rest of its portfolio around five major franchises, with Doom one of them. The wall-to-wall union covers every role at the studio short of management, the CWA said.
What Game Developer Is Reporting
Game Developer’s Chris Kerr published the first reported account of id Software cuts on July 7, citing multiple anonymous sources inside the Texas-based studio. Around 50 percent of id Software employees have been laid off, the sources said, with one putting the number at over 90 redundancies.
Michael Maynard, a former member of the studio’s staff, posted on LinkedIn that the 50 percent figure is accurate, according to Game Developer. Microsoft had not responded to Game Developer’s request for comment. Engadget, which covered the report, has also contacted Microsoft for confirmation; the company had not responded as of writing.
The cuts are hitting id Software’s quality assurance department hardest, according to one Game Developer source who described the QA team as decimated. The studio has not issued a public statement, and Game Developer has not been told which other departments are affected. The publication also noted that it remains unclear how many of the studio’s 100-plus CWA members have lost their jobs. Game Developer’s report carried a request for confidential tips from any Xbox employee affected by the cuts. The same report said Microsoft confirmed 3,200 role eliminations across its video game division over the next fiscal year, starting with 1,600 cuts this week.
A Wall-to-Wall Union With No First Contract
id Software’s wall-to-wall union formed in 2025 under the Communications Workers of America, covering every role at the studio short of management. A strong majority of the studio’s workers voted in favor, the CWA said at the time. Under Microsoft’s labor neutrality agreement with the CWA, the bargaining unit was recognized the same year.
That recognition gave the workers a seat at the table, but the table itself stayed empty. A ratified contract at a unionized studio typically sets the rules for severance, recall rights, and dispute procedures in a layoff. The wall-to-wall union had been negotiating that contract when the cuts hit. Without a ratified deal, the union’s position in this round of cuts depends on pressure tactics and public statements rather than a binding collective bargaining agreement.
CWA Demands Severance Bargaining
CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. published a written statement the same day Microsoft announced its wider cuts. The union represents id Software’s wall-to-wall unit and workers across Microsoft Gaming. The statement was published on the CWA website as a public response to the cuts at id Software and other Microsoft Gaming studios.
We are deeply disappointed in Microsoft’s decision to lay off thousands more workers, including union-represented CWA members, at a time when the company is prospering. We will be bargaining with the company over these layoffs, and CWA District Vice Presidents Mike Davis and Derrick Osobase will remain directly involved in ensuring that our members are supported and treated with dignity throughout this process.
CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. framed the moment as part of a wider corporate consolidation in the same written statement. Mike Davis, CWA District Vice President, said the union would take legal and contractual action over the layoffs. The full text of the union’s response is in the union’s full response to the Microsoft layoffs. The CWA’s website carries the full text of both leaders’ statements on the Microsoft cuts.
Our union will take all necessary legal and contractual action to defend our members and their rights.
Mike Davis, CWA District Vice President, said the pledge of legal and contractual action in the written statement. The CWA’s written statements are now the union’s primary public response to the Microsoft cuts. The Davis quote is the shorter of the two issued by CWA leaders on the day of the Microsoft announcement.
Engadget, in its report on the layoffs, said the union had accused Microsoft of slow-walking union members at the bargaining table and would demand immediate bargaining over fair severance. The CWA did not provide an immediate count of how many of id Software’s 100-plus represented workers had been cut. The 100-plus figure counts the studio’s full bargaining unit, not just the staff who voted in the original unionization. The wall-to-wall structure covers every role at the studio short of management, the CWA said. The bargaining pressure now shifts to the studio level, where severance talks will play out before any first contract is signed.
The Xbox Reset Behind the Cuts
The id Software cuts land in the middle of a wider reset at Xbox. ZeniMax Media, id Software’s parent company, will refocus on its biggest franchises going forward, Bloomberg reported on July 7, citing people familiar with the matter.
An internal email from Bethesda president Jill Braff, obtained by IGN and quoted by Game Developer, described the change. Bethesda, a sibling studio of id Software under ZeniMax, will pivot from a planning model centered on each independent studio to one that prioritizes the company’s strongest franchises. The five franchises Bethesda will now focus on are listed below, drawn from a long-running stable of internal IP.
- Fallout
- The Elder Scrolls
- Wolfenstein
- Doom
- Quake
Bethesda intends to make it easier for its development teams to collaborate, Braff’s email said, and is not shuttering any existing studios. Game Developer reported that ZeniMax will now keep its development teams focused on the five major franchises, with id Software continuing to work on Doom alongside the other priority series. The studio’s public focus on Doom had already been visible in the months before the cuts. The cuts hit during a week when Microsoft is reframing its gaming division around a smaller portfolio of major franchises. The studio’s recent release schedule has been dominated by Doom, with the franchise as the studio’s publicly visible project.
Doom’s Pipeline Kept Rolling Through the Cuts
id Software launched Doom: The Dark Ages in 2025, the latest mainline entry in a franchise that has run for more than three decades. An expansion to the game arrived on July 7, 2026, the same day Game Developer published the layoff report. The studio’s public commitment to Doom had been the dominant signal of its pipeline.
id Software outwardly appears to be already heavily focused on Doom, with the studio’s recent release schedule dominated by the franchise. The size of the reduction is harder to read as a normal capacity adjustment at a studio already focused on one franchise. The cuts hit the day the studio’s Doom: The Dark Ages expansion went live. The studio’s most recent public releases have been Doom entries, with Doom: The Dark Ages as the latest in a long-running franchise. The expansion arrived the same day the cuts were reported.
The Larger Microsoft Layoff Picture
Microsoft cut 1,600 roles alongside the announcement that Xbox is restructuring. The company plans to lay off another 1,600 employees in the gaming division over the coming months, taking the division’s cuts to 3,200 roles in the current fiscal year. The 3,200 figure is the gaming division’s share of a wider Microsoft layoff wave that hit multiple business units.
- ~90: job cuts at id Software per one Game Developer source
- 100-plus: CWA members at id Software; number ousted not disclosed
- 1,600: Microsoft Gaming roles cut this week
- 1,600: more Microsoft Gaming cuts planned over the coming months
- ~9,000: total Microsoft layoffs announced, per the CWA
Across the wider company, Microsoft intends to lay off about 9,000 employees, the CWA said, including workers in its Microsoft Gaming division. The CWA said the cuts were expected to hit CWA-represented workers at the company and stopped production on several games in the process. The 1,600 cuts this week and 1,600 more planned over the coming months are part of a broader reduction detailed in Microsoft’s 4,800 layoffs and AI spending push across the company. The cuts at id Software are part of the same wave that hit Bethesda, ZeniMax, and other Xbox-owned studios.
id Software’s wall-to-wall union formed in 2025 is now negotiating severance for its members from a position the structure was built to strengthen, but the first contract that would have set the terms for that fight is still unsigned. The CWA did not provide a count of how many of the studio’s 100-plus represented workers had been cut. The 100-plus figure counts the studio’s full bargaining unit, not just the staff who voted in the original unionization. The wall-to-wall structure covers every role at the studio short of management, the CWA said. The bargaining pressure now shifts to the studio level, where severance talks will play out before the next contract is signed.
