Bethesda Says id Software Layoffs Are Normal

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id Software is laying off employees, but it's nothing out of the ordinary, claims Bethesda.

On Tuesday Ubisoft Toronto level artist Adam Bromell confirmed that id Software was currently laying off employees, and that perhaps more layoffs would come soon. The news arrives after the recent release of the studio's first new IP in decades, Rage, which initially suffered technical issues on both the PC and console platforms.

But parent company Bethesda Softworks swooped in and explained the situation before the rumor mill began churning too quickly, claiming that it's common practice. "As part of its standard business practice, id regularly evaluates staffing to ensure it has a workforce that meets the needs of the studio," Bethesda said in a statement. "As part of that process, some id employees were recently let go."

That said, all is well in the house of id, so don't fret. Even more, the studio is still recruiting and hiring qualified developers, and says that "development work on future id titles continues unabated." id Software is reportedly working on additional content for Rage while continuing to slowly bake Doom 4 in the oven, a process which has thus far taken four years.

It's apparently not uncommon for a studio to hire on a huge load of contractors to work on a specific game, and then terminate their contract after the title is released. IndustryGamers calls Rage "commercially unsuccessful," but many fans may disagree. The game actually pulled in slightly above-average scores, ranking an 82-percent average for the Xbox 360, an 81-percent for the PlayStation 3, and a 78-percent on the PC.

Kevin Parrish
26 Comments Comment from the forums
  • beardguy
    Hopefully they got rid of the incompetent workers who ultimately led to the failure of RAGE.

    It's obvious that more than a few people dropped the ball on this title.
    Reply
  • rad666
    While on the surface, a metacritic average of 78-82 isn't all that bad, we all know that the way reviewers skew numbers "AAA" titles that anything below 90 is just bad.
    Reply
  • rawful
    Rage was just not that great of a game, technical issues aside. Just when it started to really get interesting, and seemed like the story was going to take off... the game ends. Such a disappointment. It just felt like an incomplete game.
    Reply
  • RipperjackAU
    beardguyHopefully they got rid of the incompetent workers who ultimately led to the failure of RAGE. It's obvious that more than a few people dropped the ball on this title.
    Yes, like John Cormack. He might have been on the founders behind DOOM, but he screwed the pooch big time on RAGE. He needs a reality check, and a pink slip might be the best way to drive that message home.
    Reply
  • digitalzom-b
    Yes, this is common practice...

    For games that fail.
    Reply
  • I am so worried about DOOM 4 !

    If you can't . . . just let it go!!!
    Reply
  • zanny
    RipperjackAUYes, like John Cormack. He might have been on the founders behind DOOM, but he screwed the pooch big time on RAGE. He needs a reality check, and a pink slip might be the best way to drive that message home.
    He has majority ownership of the studio. Good luck with that. He would probably just make another game studio if you could, anyway. And he is the engine designer, he doesn't write the story or make the art. The problem with Rage was that the creative design team and management behind it ignored blatantly bad story telling and plot throughout the games development and ignored the reality that the characters were flat.
    Reply
  • de5_Roy
    how well did rage sell exactly? did it sell bad enough to be called a failure? the figures in the last paragraph look like review scores to me.
    Reply
  • Steveymoo
    This is not called "being laid off," this is called "coming to the end of your contract."

    In the vfx and games industry, contractors are usually hired for 6, or 12 months, depending on the length of the project. This is totally normal, there's no point keeping hold of 50 staff members, when there's no work for them to do...
    Reply
  • IndignantSkeptic
    I won't be getting Doom4 and that is because it's being designed for this generation of consoles instead of the next.
    Reply