id Software 'doing great' after about half of staff left, says co-studio director

id Software co-studio director Marty Stratton said the studio is "doing great" after about half of its staff left in layoffs, according to Eurogamer. Stratton said there was a deliberate effort to keep the studio viable across game development and its technology department.

He said id Software is now working more closely than ever with MachineGames, the Swedish studio behind the modern Wolfenstein games and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. That closer technology partnership began earlier this year, before the layoffs, according to Stratton. He added that both studios are bullish on what lies ahead.

id Software's next project remains unclear.

The layoffs were part of a business "reset" at Xbox led by CEO Asha Sharma earlier this year, which heavily affected Microsoft-owned studios. Around 136 id Software employees reportedly lost their jobs, and the reset will ultimately cut 3,200 jobs across Microsoft's gaming division. In July, the first wave included developers working on the id Tech engine.

After the layoffs, longtime id Software programmer Chris Hays said making a triple-A game with half the people was impossible and that entire departments and disciplines were gone. Fellow co-studio head Hugo Martin previously claimed the remaining team is the size it was when Doom 2016 was made and that id Tech is alive and well. MachineGames recently said it is not done with Wolfenstein, possibly hinting at a sequel to 2017's The New Colossus.