Doom Developer Says Xbox "Doesn't Understand Anything About Art" After Layoffs

After John Romero, co-founder of id Software, lamented layoffs at the Doom studio, it was Chris Hays, lead programmer, who spoke out next. The veteran broke his silence about the impacts of the restructuring carried out by Xbox and provided an update on the developer’s real situation. 

In a recent interview on the Well Played podcast, the veteran, who has worked at the studio for more than 15 years and contributed to titles such as Doom Eternal and Doom: The Dark Ages, spoke openly about the fallout from the cuts and said it has become “impossible to develop AAA games on the same scale as the team’s previous work.”

According to him, entire departments were “decimated” after the layoffs, with essential roles no longer existing. As a result, the developer denied that id Software still has the same structure it had during the Doom (2016) era:  “We are not the same team. We are half of the same team,” he said.

Hays also criticized Xbox’s stance amid the changes and said the company had reportedly given instructions on what employees could say publicly. In his view, assurances that the studio will continue producing major games do not match the internal reality. The programmer also questioned the Game Pass model, pointing out that Bethesda games arrive on the service at launch, yet the company still considers the sales numbers low.

Commenting on the cuts, Hays said Xbox “fundamentally” does not understand art or video games: "If you cut half of a studio and don’t take into account how it is built, you don’t understand that the cohesion between our teams was part of what made it successful."

The statements come after Xbox announced in July a round of 3,200 layoffs through the end of fiscal year 2027. The cuts are expected to represent about 20% of the company’s workforce. As part of the restructuring, Xbox also ended some of its involvement in previously acquired studios, such as Double Fine and Compulsion Games. In a statement sent to employees, CEO Asha Sharma described the changes as “the most significant restructuring in Xbox history.”