In case you missed it, Microsoft’s layoffs are far from over as more cuts are expected before the year’s end, with a target of reducing over 3,000 employees to stabilize the gaming division’s financial health.

Developers across XBOX Game Studios remain on shaky ground, and few teams have sparked as much uncertainty as id Software, the legendary studio behind DOOM and Quake.

Now, one of its current lead figures has spoken out and criticized Microsoft and broader industry practices that he says foster doubt and demoralization among workers.

XBOX 25.°aniversario

id Software’s Chris Hays Criticizes Microsoft Due to Layoffs

During an interview on the YouTube channel Auf ein Bier, Chris Hays, a lead programmer currently at id Software, addressed the studio’s outlook following the latest round of layoffs.

Earlier rumors had suggested the team was on the chopping block, but an official statement reassured the public that, despite the reductions, the studio remains the same size as it was when it shipped DOOM in 2016.

Hays, however, pushed back against that notion, arguing that it is simply not feasible to produce a game of comparable scale and quality with the team as it now stands. He also contended that Microsoft and other companies underestimate the developmental fallout of staff cuts. In his view, such decisions will only lead to mediocre games:

“It is our experience together, our working together, and our past experiences that make the studio good. Yeah, you could just throw away half [of your developers] and bring in more later if you happen to need more number of hours to fill out the check boxes that you want,” Hays said. “But then you’re just going to end up with a mediocre game, and people aren’t going to be happy, and everyone will know it. And that’s the long-term thinking that doesn’t seem to be present.”

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El futuro de la división de juegos de Microsoft aún es incierto ante el cambio de liderazgo

There’s No Margin of Error and This Affects Development

Hays went on to highlight how margins of error are no longer allowed as a single failed launch can prove fatal for an entire team.

He emphasized that failure is an essential part of learning and the creative process and that learning from missteps is what makes developers better. Yet at the corporate level, that lesson is completely ignored.

“Failures are important, too. Early on when id got bought by ZeniMax and ZeniMax got bought by Microsoft, one of the big selling points was you can have failures and it doesn’t mean the end of the business. In a bigger umbrella, you can be riskier. If you make a mistake, that’s the last mistake you make as a team. That team is done. So no one’s growing, no one’s learning, and as a result, individuals don’t have the incentive to care anymore,” he said.

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