This year has not been kind to Xbox. The company engaged in mass layoffs in an effort to restructure itself into a more profitable business. One of the studios impacted is id Software, home of Doom and Wolfenstein, though you wouldn't know it from how the team just casually mentioned working on a new game.
Current Xbox CEO Asha Sharma shared on Twitter that Slaughter Mode is coming to Doom: The Dark Ages this coming Monday. "Few studios have shaped the first-person shooter genre as much as id Software," she writes. At the end of the tweet, she mentions the team is now working on a new game too, and id Software elaborated slightly in a reply.
"We're incredibly excited about our next project, a new game from our teams in Texas and Frankfurt, with game direction once again by Hugo Martin," the studio says. "It'll be some time before we're ready to share more, but we can't wait for you to see what we're working on."
@asha_shar We're incredibly excited about our next project, a new game from our teams in Texas and Frankfurt, with game direction once again by Hugo Martin. It'll be some time before we're ready to share more but we can't wait for you to see what we're working on.November 12, 2026
It's always a good thing to hear we're getting another project from such a pillar of first-person shooters. But the timing and messaging here definitely leave an odd taste in the mouth.
Just weeks ago, we were hearing how id Software staff were let go right before the latest DLC for Doom: The Dark Ages was released. Apparently, the team behind id Tech, the in-house engine, comprises exactly one person at the moment.
It's a difficult, messy time for all involved, and yet this exchange makes it seem like everything is perfectly normal. It gives you the feeling that they want you to just be happy that there's a new project in the works, without thinking twice about who's actually making it or what the team's general vibe and situation are at the moment.
I'm going to guess this is a new Doom, since that's still id Software's biggest franchise. MachineGames is back to work on the next Wolfenstein. But even if it's another attempt at relaunching Quake, or something else entirely, seeing this creates mixed feelings. All the staff at id and the Doomslayer deserve better.
