{"id":12038,"date":"2025-07-05T02:12:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T02:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/romero-games-shuttered-and-over-100-staff-axed-after-xbox-pulls-funding\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T02:12:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T02:12:31","slug":"romero-games-shuttered-and-over-100-staff-axed-after-xbox-pulls-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/romero-games-shuttered-and-over-100-staff-axed-after-xbox-pulls-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Romero Games Shuttered and Over 100 Staff Axed After Xbox Pulls Funding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Website design <\/p>\n<div>\n<section>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/images.pushsquare.com\/5d5593c29f133\/romero-games-project-cancelled-as-xbox-layoffs-continue-to-cast-dark-shadow-over-industry-1.900x.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" alt=\"website design Romero Games Project Cancelled as Xbox Layoffs Continue to Cast Dark Shadow Over Industry 1\"><figcaption><em>Image: Push Square<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Update #2 [<time datetime=\"2025-07-04T23:15:00+00:00\" data-format=\"D jS M Y, g:ia\">Sat 5th Jul 2025, 12:15am<\/time>]:<\/strong> The doors have closed on Galway-based Romero Games and over 100 staff are job-less after Xbox pulled funding on the studio\u2019s latest game.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s according to Irish publication The Journal, which matches previous reports on the topic.<\/p>\n<p>While the details are still murky, it\u2019s believed that Microsoft subsidiary Bethesda was signed on to publish this brand new first-person shooter from legendary DOOM designer John Romero and his team.<\/p>\n<p>However, it pulled funding this week as part of a wider cost-cutting exercise which saw multiple games cancelled, one studio shuttered, and many out of work.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure data-videoid=\"y-XGB8_bQ3s\" data-start=\"0\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/y-XGB8_bQ3s?rel=0&#038;hd=1&#038;showinfo=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;autohide=1\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube Video\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pushsquare.com\/javascript:\"'\" data-src-fallback=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/y-XGB8_bQ3s?rel=0&#038;hd=1&#038;showinfo=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;autohide=1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/y-XGB8_bQ3s?rel=0&#038;hd=1&#038;showinfo=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;autohide=1\" data-consent=\"targeting\" type=\"text\/html\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" width=\"890\" height=\"501\" data-src-primis=\"https:\/\/live.primis.tech\/live\/liveView.php?s=117168&#038;vp_content=embed4a3519ulhmzp&#038;schain=1.0,1!ziffdavis.com,22392450815,1\"><\/iframe><figcaption>\n<p>Watch on <strong><span><\/span> YouTube<\/strong> <span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to Push Square on <span>YouTube<\/span><span>158k<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>There is some small semblance of hope that Romero Games <em>could<\/em> source new funding and resume operations in the future, but for now, it\u2019s shut up shop.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Update #1 [<time datetime=\"2025-07-03T17:00:00+00:00\" data-format=\"D jS M Y, g:ia\">Thu 3rd Jul 2025, 6pm<\/time>]:<\/strong> According to the resumes of affected developers at Romero Games, the entire studio has been laid off in the aftermath of this week\u2019s Xbox news.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple staffers across a variety of disciplines \u2013 from art through to programming \u2013 have posted about the situation, with several saying the entire team has been let go.<\/p>\n<p>One ex-employee in particular said it\u2019s \u201cdevastated the studio is closing due to cutbacks from the publisher\u201d.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Original Story:<\/strong> An upcoming project from the legendary DOOM designer John Romero and his team has been cancelled as part of the wider Xbox cuts which have rocked the industry this week.<\/p>\n<p>The removal of funding \u2013 which Insider Gaming reports would have been published by Microsoft subsidiary Bethesda, presumably on PS5 as well as other platforms \u2013 has resulted in layoffs at developer Romero Games.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, it said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThis absolutely isn\u2019t a reflection of our team\u2019s work, performance, or the quality of the project itself. We hit every milestone on time, every time, consistently received high praise, and easily passed all our internal gates. We are incredibly proud of the work being done, and of the talented team behind it. The best we\u2019ve worked with.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The studio is now scrambling to learn what to do next. It also mentioned that \u201cseveral other unannounced projects at other studios\u201d have been affected as well.<\/p>\n<p>It added:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThis was a strategic decision made at a high level within the publisher, well above our visibility or control. We deeply wish there had been something, anything, we could have done to prevent this outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It seems like layoffs have already hit Romero Games as a result of the cancellation, with artist Cristoph Redl among those confirming he\u2019s lost his job.<\/p>\n<p>This week Microsoft laid off more than 9,000 employees worldwide, with the Xbox division hit particularly hard.<\/p>\n<p>Among the disruption, the company cancelled high-profile first-party games like Everwild and Perfect Dark, both of which would have likely released on the PS5.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, division head Phil Spencer is staying put, despite rumours of him retiring. It\u2019s nice to know that someone at Xbox still has job security, huh?<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>[source x.com, via insider-gaming.com, x.com]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Website design Image: Push Square Update #2 [Sat 5th Jul 2025, 12:15am]: The doors have closed on Galway-based Romero Games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7282,"featured_media":12039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1166],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-website"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7282"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}