Just a day before Microsoft axed 9,000 of its employees, the company met with John Romero's studio, Romero Games, and remained silent on the planned cuts. Microsoft does not own Romero Games, but did provide significant funding, which has now been pulled.
After Microsoft cut its funding, John and Brenda Romero's studio is officially shutting down, per a report by TheJournal, (via PC Gamer). Over 100 people are now out of a job, the report claims. This comes as a result of Microsoft's recent layoffs which affected some 9,000 people across the company, seemingly to open up funds for more AI investment, which amounts to around $80 billion total.
Brenda Romero told TheJournal that the studio did not deserve this fate and that Microsoft's move "isn’t a reflection of our team’s work, performance, or the quality of the project itself, "adding that the studio hit every deadline and milestone "on time, every time." The decision was also made at a corporate level, "well above our visibility and control," Romero stated.
The decision to close the studio was a "sudden" one, employees claimed, one that happened just a day after the studio had met with Microsoft. "There was no mention of it," they said.
John Romero and his wife Brenda have run the Ireland-based studio since 2015, publishing a few games and two expansions for the original Doom title, SIGIL 1 and 2, which fans of the title loved.
However, Romero Games never really managed to put out a major, financially successful title, which could explain why Microsoft seemingly did not consider it a worthwhile investment. TheJournal, however, reports it had "strong financial performance" and million-euro profits, which muddies the waters a bit.
Romero Games was also supposed to develop two first-person shooters, one of them being Blackroom. Blackroom was cancelled in 2023, whereas the second FPS will probably never see the light of day given these new circumstances.
The Romeros are now "focusing on helping affected employees find new opportunities." Whether or not they'll succeed in finding new funding is anyone's guess, and it'd be a sad, sad day for gaming if the legendary John Romero stopped being part of it.
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