A veteran developer at id Software — the studio behind the Doom franchise — has gone on record to say that making AAA games at the same scale as Doom Eternal or Doom: The Dark Ages is now "impossible" following Xbox's mass layoffs. The remarks from Chris Hays, id Software's lead services programmer of 15 years, have gone viral across gaming communities and revived a broader debate about how Microsoft is managing its acquired studios.
- ▶Sources: Kotaku — id Software vet interview report (Aug 7, 2026) · GamesRadar — Doom dev slams Xbox (Aug 8, 2026)
What Happened
In a July 31 interview on the German gaming podcast Auf ein Bier, Hays gave a candid first-person account of the layoffs' impact on id Software. The interview gained little traction at first, but a clipped version of his remarks began circulating on social media on August 7, prompting major outlets to cover it.
Event Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| July 2026 | New Xbox head Asha Sharma announces 1,600 immediate layoffs, with another 1,600 before year's end — ~20% of Xbox's total workforce |
| July 2026 | id Software reported among the hardest-hit studios, losing roughly half its staff |
| July 31, 2026 | Hays' interview published on the Auf ein Bier podcast |
| August 7, 2026 | Clip goes viral; Kotaku, GamesRadar, and others publish reports |
| August 8–9, 2026 | Xbox has not responded to Kotaku's request for comment |
Chris Hays — Who He Is
| Name | Chris Hays |
|---|---|
| Title | Lead Services Programmer, id Software |
| Tenure | 15+ years at id Software |
| Credits | Doom Eternal, Doom: The Dark Ages |
| Status | Current employee — not among those laid off |
The fact that Hays is still employed at the studio makes his comments unusually significant. Most post-layoff criticism comes from former employees. Hays is speaking about the current state of his own workplace from the inside.
The Quotes That Went Viral
On the impossibility of rebuilding
“"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." — Chris Hays, Auf ein Bier podcast
“"It's hard to make a game when there are entire departments that are gutted that you need. Entire disciplines that are gone. So the reassurances that we're still the same id and we're still gonna do things — well, first of all, We're not the same id. We're half the same id."
Hays gave specific examples of disciplines that no longer exist at the studio:
“"Who will do that work now? We had — who's going to make our skyboxes when we get rid of our skybox artist? How are we going to maintain infrastructure when we get rid of our infrastructure team? How are we going to maintain our engine when so much of our engine team is let go?"
On Xbox not understanding game development
“"They fundamentally don't understand art. They don't understand games. They don't understand that business model." — Chris Hays, per GamesRadar
“"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."
He framed the issue as a structural mismatch between quarterly corporate thinking and the multi-year nature of game development:
“"How can we get this financial quarter or year to look good? Those don't align with the same things that make a successful game."
On the "talking points" from Xbox leadership
Hays alleged that id's management received approved messaging from Xbox about what they could and couldn't say publicly — and that this was primarily intended to prevent more developers from leaving:
“"At the end of the day, most of it was just trying to tell us that, 'oh no, everything is fine. And things will be okay.' The same lines that they said publicly, like, 'Oh, well, [the studio is] the size of Doom 2016' or 'we're close to that same size.'"
The "Doom 2016 Size" Claim — Disputed
Xbox and id Software leadership have stated the studio is now roughly the same size as when Doom (2016) was made. Hays directly challenged this.
When the podcast host noted the discrepancy between current headcount and the number of names in the Doom (2016) credits, Hays replied:
“"There is a reason they say 'close to,' because it is less."
The Game Pass Argument
Hays also addressed the tension between Game Pass and how Microsoft evaluates studio performance — a concern that extends well beyond id Software.
| Issue | Hays' Argument |
|---|---|
| Sales metrics | Xbox flags "poor sales" in Bethesda financial reports, but Game Pass subscribers never need to purchase games outright |
| Business model mismatch | Reporting low unit sales as a failure doesn't apply to a subscription-first model |
| Internal friction | id Software has "serious issues" with how Game Pass performance is measured |
“"I know that [id has] serious issues with how Game Pass is done. Whenever we see the financial reports that say that there were poor sales under Bethesda, like, what's a sale? If you have Game Pass, are you saying poor sales means a poor number of games sold? Cause of course. [Xbox isn't] doing a 'games sold' business model."
This argument raises a question that goes beyond id Software: if Game Pass cannibalizes unit sales by design, holding studios to unit-sales benchmarks may set them up to fail regardless of actual player engagement.
The Broader Xbox Restructuring
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Wave 1 cuts | 1,600 in July 2026 |
| Wave 2 planned | 1,600 more before end of 2026 |
| Total scope | ~20% of Xbox's total headcount |
| Asha Sharma's framing | "The most significant restructure in Xbox history" |
| Studio divestitures | Double Fine and Compulsion Games among studios Xbox parted ways with |
Community Reaction
The clipped version of Hays' remarks spread quickly on X (formerly Twitter), with the phrase "by hard I mean impossible" standing out as particularly blunt. Responses from the broader developer community have largely been supportive of Hays' candor, with many pointing out that being still employed while making these statements takes significant professional risk.
Critics of Xbox have used the interview to renew calls for Microsoft to be more transparent about its studio management strategy, especially given that id Software delivered the acclaimed Doom: The Dark Ages just months before the cuts took effect.
Some in Xbox's fanbase have pushed back, arguing that one developer's perspective should not be treated as the definitive state of the studio. Xbox has not issued a public response as of publication.
GamePeak Take
Three things stand out from Hays' remarks:
- 1Depth of loss, not just headcount — Losing entire disciplines like infrastructure, engine, and art departments isn't recoverable by simply redistributing work. These are specialized roles that took years to build.
- 2The Game Pass metrics trap — If subscriptions are the revenue model, measuring studios by unit sales sets a ceiling they can never reach. This contradiction hasn't been resolved publicly.
- 3Trust damage inside the studio — When corporate messaging conflicts with what developers observe in the building, the credibility gap is hard to repair. Hays' willingness to say this on record suggests many of his remaining colleagues likely feel the same.
Whether id Software can deliver a next-generation Doom title remains an open question. What's not open is that the people still there are aware of what was lost.