Key takeaways
- id Software's Chris Hays declared it is now impossible to create AAA games with half the studio's post-layoff workforce.
- Xbox management provided staff with optimistic talking points while privately acknowledging the studio is smaller than when it shipped Doom (2016).
- Hays criticized Xbox for failing to understand game development, particularly how team cohesion directly contributes to creative success.
- The programmer pointed out that Game Pass eliminates traditional sales revenue while Xbox leadership still blames Bethesda for poor sales figures.
Chris Hays, who has spent more than 15 years as a lead services programmer at id Software, recently broke from the corporate silence surrounding the studio’s future. In an appearance on the Well Played podcast, Hays directly challenged the optimistic messaging coming from Xbox leadership in the aftermath of sweeping job cuts that decimated the studio.
The conversation centered on a fundamental disagreement about what remains possible in game development after id Software lost roughly half its workforce. Hays minced no words about the reality facing the studio and the broader implications for creating modern, large-scale games.
The Impossible Studio
Hays framed the situation with stark clarity during the podcast episode. He stated that producing an AAA-caliber game in the manner id Software had accomplished in recent years is fundamentally incompatible with operating at half capacity. His assessment went beyond mere difficulty—he rejected the notion entirely.
“It is hard to make a game that is AAA that’s like we’ve done before with half the people. And by hard I mean impossible,” Hays declared. He elaborated further, describing the cascade of damage from losing entire departments and technical disciplines simultaneously. “It’s hard to make a game when there are entire departments that are gutted that you need. Entire disciplines that are gone.”
The programmer’s critique directly contradicts assurances from Xbox and id leadership. Both entities have publicly stated that the remaining studio approximates the team size that shipped Doom in 2016, suggesting that team could replicate that success again. Hays dismantled this claim by acknowledging the language itself reveals the falsehood: the phrase “close to” admits the actual team is smaller.
“There is a reason they say close to, because it is less,” Hays noted. He emphasized that the loss extended beyond simple headcount. The destruction of team cohesion and the specific expertise embedded within those departments created permanent damage that hiring replacements could not repair.
Management Under Pressure
Hays revealed another layer of the post-layoff situation: the management structure itself operated under constraints imposed by corporate ownership. He disclosed that id Software leadership had been provided “talking points” by Xbox—essentially scripted messaging about the studio’s continued viability.
This revelation suggests that company management, even at the studio level, faced pressure to maintain a specific narrative. Hays characterized the core message delivered to remaining staff: “oh no, everything is fine. And things will be okay.”
The Repetition of Reassurances
The talking points involved recycled promises that the studio maintained viability despite evident structural damage. Executives repeated claims about team size and past successes without addressing the fundamental changes that had occurred. Hays described this as an attempt to prevent panic departures—management feared that honest acknowledgment of the studio’s reduced capacity would trigger additional resignations.
The Cost of Honesty
The programmer implied that transparent communication about the layoffs’ impact would have accelerated the exodus of talent. By deploying optimistic—or misleading—messaging, Xbox and id leadership aimed to stabilize staff morale through reassurance rather than acknowledging reality.
Game Pass and Sales Contradiction
A separate frustration emerged when Hays addressed Game Pass, the subscription service that delivers Xbox’s entire publishing portfolio on day one to subscribers. Because Bethesda, which owns id Software, operates under Xbox’s corporate structure, all id games deploy to Game Pass immediately upon release.
This arrangement means that a substantial portion of Xbox’s PC and console audience needs never purchase a new id Software title. Yet Xbox leadership simultaneously criticized Bethesda’s sales figures, Hays reported. The contradiction appears inescapable: day-one Game Pass availability systematically depresses revenue from traditional sales, but leadership used diminished sales as justification for downsizing.
The Absence of Understanding
Beyond practical concerns about studio capacity, Hays leveled a conceptual criticism at Xbox leadership. He contended that the company fundamentally failed to understand how game development actually works—that the creative process and collaborative relationships within a studio constitute core creative assets.
When you eliminate half of an organization without comprehending how the remaining structure maintains quality and cohesion, you signal a profound misunderstanding of the medium itself, Hays argued. The decision to cut staff demonstrated that leadership lacked basic comprehension of what actually creates successful games.
“If you cut half of a studio and don’t take into account how it’s made, you don’t understand the cohesion between our teams was a part of what made it successful,” Hays said. He positioned this not as a failure of planning but as a failure of philosophy—Xbox doesn’t “understand art” or the unique demands of game development.
Xbox’s Massive Restructuring
Hays’ criticisms arrived in the context of extraordinary organizational upheaval at Xbox. In July 2025, Xbox’s new leadership under Asha Sharma announced plans to eliminate 1,600 positions immediately, with an additional 1,600 departures planned before the end of the year. The total represents approximately 20 percent of Xbox’s total workforce.
This restructuring, which Sharma herself characterized as “the most significant restructure in Xbox history,” extended beyond simple layoffs. Xbox divested from multiple studios it had acquired over prior years, including Double Fine and Compulsion Games. These divestitures signaled not merely cost reduction but strategic withdrawal from certain development areas.
The scale of these changes created a domino effect across the industry. id Software, as one of Xbox’s crown jewel studios responsible for the Doom franchise and recent successes like Doom: The Dark Ages, found itself caught in the broader upheaval despite its track record of profitable releases.
Hays’s podcast appearance represented a rare moment of candid criticism from within a major studio. While other developers have commented on layoff impacts, few have directly challenged corporate leadership’s competence and understanding with such directness. His remarks suggest that the gap between Xbox’s public narrative and the internal reality at id Software may be far wider than the company has acknowledged.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Chris Hays and what did he say about the layoffs?
Chris Hays is id Software's lead services programmer with over 15 years at the company. He stated that creating AAA games like id Software's previous work is now impossible with half the studio's workforce, describing the cuts as gutting entire departments and technical disciplines.
How big were Xbox's July 2025 layoffs?
Xbox laid off 1,600 employees in July 2025, with an additional 1,600 departures planned before year's end, representing roughly 20 percent of Xbox's total workforce. Asha Sharma, Xbox's boss, called this the most significant restructure in Xbox history.
What is the Game Pass contradiction Hays mentioned?
All id Software games deploy to Game Pass on day one due to Bethesda's ownership by Xbox, meaning Xbox's audience can access new titles via subscription rather than purchase. Yet Hays claims Xbox leadership criticized Bethesda's sales figures despite Game Pass depressing traditional sales.
