Even a legend is out of work: the famous John Romero cancelled the development of the shooter. Probably because of Microsoft's actions
Legendary game designer John Romero - one of the authors of the cult franchises Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein - in 2015 founded his own (next) studio Romero Games, which worked on an ambitious shooter from 2022.
But even the developer's star status did not save him from financial problems.
Here's What We Know
John Romero and his wife Brenda reported that an unnamed publisher refused to fund their game. It is stated that this has nothing to do with the quality of work or the concept of the project, as the Romero Games team approached the task responsibly, met deadlines and did not violate agreements.
In the open letter Brenda did not specify who the devious publisher was, but the situation at Romero Games surprisingly coincided with a massive wave of layoffs at Microsoft and its studios.
- Romero Games Ltd. (@romerogamesltd) July 3, 2025
Several sources claim, the shooter from Romero was to be published by either Bethesda Softworks or Xbox Games Studios. For example, one of the artists Christoph Redl said that he lost his job at the studio precisely because of the layoffs at Xbox, another colleague said that the studio is completely dissolved, and former colleagues are posting job ads on LinkedIn.
Source: @romerogamesltd
