A former producer at id Software has spoken out about the intense crunch experienced during the development of Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations, describing it as the most severe the series has ever seen. Andrew Willis revealed in an interview on the Kiwi Talkz podcast that the expansion, which significantly improved upon the base game, was largely developed under extreme time pressure.
Willis stated that for two months, he worked at least 12 hours every day, with some days reaching 17 hours. He characterized the experience as "brutal," noting that the entire six-hour expansion was assembled in a remarkably short three to four months. This compressed timeline stands in stark contrast to the five years it took to create the main Doom: The Dark Ages game. The tight schedule was exacerbated by feature creep, where new elements were introduced as the DLC was being built.
"There were days where I didn't get to see my son the whole day; multiple days of that that I sacrificed to get this out the door at the level of quality," Willis shared, indicating that the sacrifice was widespread among the team. He added that even seasoned designers with extensive experience in both film and game development were taken aback by the severity of the crunch. "We had people that worked in Hollywood for 20 years and game development for 10 and said that this was the worst crunch they'd been a part of."
While Willis clarified that id Software did not officially mandate crunch, the sheer volume of work coupled with the tight deadline created an environment where it felt unavoidable. He described it as "pseudo-induced crunch" driven by the need to meet player expectations and personal quality standards.
Adding to the difficult development, Willis was among the id Software employees laid off by Xbox as part of broader cuts that affected numerous studios. He learned of the layoffs the day before Revelations was set to launch. "You spend so much of your energy and hours of your life, and sacrifice a bunch of things to get something out of the door, and then they lay you off. It's such a wild feeling," Willis commented. The reason behind the rushed release of Revelations remains unclear, with speculation pointing to internal decisions or external pressure from Xbox leadership. While Doom: The Dark Ages sold fewer copies than Doom Eternal, this was anticipated due to its day-one release on Game Pass. Hugo Martin has maintained that id Software is stable following the layoffs.