Doom studio Id Software pitched a Perfect Dark game before Xbox cuts
The Quake studio is also said to have pitched a John Wick-style original IP
Id Software pitched a new Perfect Dark game and a John Wick-style original IP before it was hit with significant staff cuts this week, according to a new report.
A state notice revealed on Wednesday that the Doom and Quake studio has been hit hard by Xbox’s sweeping layoffs, with as many as 136 workers affected, and one former employee claiming it has been ‘relegated to support studio size’.
A new report by GamesBeat explores the events behind the scenes, with comments from multiple former employees.
According to the report, Id Software was vulnerable to cuts because it was between major projects, having just shipped Doom: The Dark Ages this week.
It’s claimed that Id had pitched various projects in the time since the full Dark Ages game released last year, including multiple original IPs, but none were greenlit and new CEO Asha Sharma has since pushed for a company-wide refocus on its biggest brands.
Notably, Id is said to have pitched a game based on the Perfect Dark franchise. A planned reboot by now-closed Xbox studio The Initiative was canceled last year, but Id reportedly made concept art for a new concept of its own.
Id pitched ‘John Wick-style’ sci-fi game
Doom series director Hugo Martin is also said to have pitched an original IP inspired by John Wick, codenamed Fury.
The project allegedly featured elements of sci-fi, noir, and Louisiana and Chicago gangsters with a concept called Gun Fu, which combined gunplay with martial arts.
Another rejected original IP idea was a Western-style robot game, it’s claimed, with a focus on survival. Id is also said to have pitched multiplayer and co-op concepts for Doom, as well as more DLC.
Derek Best, a former VFX Artist at Id who worked on all three modern Doom games, claimed in a social media post this week that it had been ‘nuked into the dirt’ by the Xbox layoffs.
He wrote: “Great job, Microsoft. Nothing says business success like nuking a team into the dirt and relegating them to support studio size while also throwing out massive technological achievements”.
