Romero Games, the studio founded ten years ago by DOOM series creator John Romero and his weife Brenda, confirmed its next unannounced project is no longer in the works, and the project’s cancellation is related to the recent wave of Xbox layoffs.
In a new message shared on X, the studio confirmed that their unnamed publisher has canceled funding for their game alongside several other unannounced projects at other studios. This was a strategic decision made at a high level within the publisher and above the studio’s visibility and control. The decision to cancel the project, the message continues, does not in any way reflect the team’s work, performance, or quality of the project. Development was reportedly proceeding well, but this wasn’t enough to avoid the project from being canned.
While Romero Games’ message doesn’t mention the publisher’s name, a message shared on X by the studio’s former hard surface artist, Christoph Redl, confirms that the project’s cancellation is a consequence of the recent wave of Xbox layoffs.
As mentioned in the message above, Romero Games’ new project is not the only one that has been canceled as a result of this week’s Xbox layoffs, and a lot of studios have been impacted, from Forza Motorsport series developer Turn 10, which was hit hard with over 70 employees having been laid off, to Zenimax Online, whose new MMORPG has been canceled, and Perfect Dark’s developer The Initiative, which has been shut down following the cancellation of its highly anticipated project.
