Id Software co-director Marty Stratton has revealed that the studio is working more closely with MachineGames than ever before, following significant layoffs earlier this year. The Doom developer lost roughly half of its employees as part of broader workforce reductions at Xbox.
Stratton addressed the studio's status at a recent press event for Doom: The Dark Ages' Revelations DLC. "We're doing great," he stated, acknowledging the impact of the layoffs. "Not to handwave the [layoffs] away… everybody knows we had about half of our studio exit as part of that. But there was a very deliberate effort to make sure that we were incredibly viable coming out of that across everything we do, across game development and [the] technology department."
As part of this effort, id Software has deepened its partnership with MachineGames, the studio behind the Wolfenstein series and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. "We've always had a very close partnership with them, but I think we're at the point with technology development that both teams are incredibly talented and have incredibly talented engineers and we're really on an amazing path that had started pre-[layoffs]," Stratton explained. "We'd kicked this off earlier this year. We're really excited about that. We're both really, really bullish on what we have ahead."
Stratton's emphasis on technology has fueled speculation that the two developers may be collaborating on a new Wolfenstein title, a project MachineGames is reportedly working on. While id Software recently concluded active development on Doom: The Dark Ages following its expansions, this increased collaboration could see its engine expertise integrated into MachineGames' projects. Notably, MachineGames utilized a modified version of id Tech 7, called Motor, for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The close ties suggest a potential alignment of engine development between the studios, especially given the loss of engine specialists from id Software's Frankfurt arm during the layoffs.
These layoffs at id Software were part of a larger trend within Xbox. The company initiated further job cuts in September, merging Obsidian and Bethesda and placing Activision in charge of the Halo franchise. Microsoft has indicated plans for additional layoffs leading up to January 2027, and has also offered a voluntary exit program to a significant portion of its workforce.