Doom Co-Creator’s Next Game May Be Saved Following New Update

John Romero’s video game studio is safe for the time being and it seems like there’s a desire to get his next game made following troubles with funding. The video game industry is incredibly tumultuous lately with mass layoffs, studio closures, game cancellations, and more. It’s a tough time to be a game developer and an overall fan of the industry as great talent is getting pushed out. Last week, Xbox laid off 9,000 people which resulted in key teams being shut down and a lot of games being put in awkward positions. The Forza Motorsport franchise’s future doesn’t look bright as the team was fired and the Perfect Dark reboot was outright cancelled after a promising reveal in 2024.

One other project that got caught in the crossfire is one that isn’t even owned by Xbox, but was receiving some backing from the Microsoft-owned gaming platform. Legendary video game developer and Doom co-creator John Romero has his own game studio known as Romero Games and the studio has been toiling away on a new AAA FPS project for some time. Alongside the Microsoft layoffs, Romero Games announced that its next game has been cancelled after its publisher abruptly pulled funding. While Xbox wasn’t explicitly named, it wasn’t hard for some folks to connect the dots given the timing. Reports began swirling that Romero Games was laying people off and shutting down.

Now, a new statement from Romero Games clears the air and offers some hope for the future for the studio. Again, Romero Games doesn’t reveal its publisher due to confidentiality agreements that are in place, but notes that people may be able to infer it. Although the studio’s next game was cancelled, other publishers have reached out to see if they can find a way to get it across the finish line. No deals have been made, but the team is evaluating its options to see what can be done.