John Romero, co-founder of id Software, confirmed that the shooting project terminated by Xbox has found a new publisher. The team will reduce its staff size and readjust the scope of the game's development.
Romero's studio officially announced in 2022 that it was developing a new first-person shooter based on an original IP. However, in the summer of 2025, Xbox launched its annual wave of layoffs, resulting in the cancellation of the project. It was only after the announcement that it was confirmed externally that Xbox was the publisher of this unreleased title. This round of business contraction by Microsoft also pushed Romero's studio to the brink of closure.
More than a year later, Romero provided an update on the studio's latest developments in an interview with gaming media outlet VGC. He stated that the team had maintained its staff size for as long as possible and sought financing everywhere in hopes of completing the game. Ultimately, however, the studio had to initiate layoffs, leaving only a very small core team to figure out the next steps.
The team size was once reduced from 110 people to just five. However, Romero confirmed that the FPS project has signed a new publishing deal, and the studio has rehired 10 employees, all of whom are core leads from previous sub-teams. The game will undergo a comprehensive redesign to align with the capacity of the smaller team.
Romero explained, "We don't need a larger team anymore; the content scope of this game is tailored specifically for our current team size, and everyone is in good spirits." Regarding the initial development plan, he admitted, "The original game was no longer feasible; it required a scale supported by a 110-person team. So now we are completely rebuilding a different title, but we will leverage the substantial development achievements accumulated from the previous project."
Romero added, "We migrated a lot of existing content into the new project, giving us a high starting point for development, including high-quality art assets and well-designed weapon systems." As for the new publishing partner, he said he couldn't reveal the specific name at this time, but noted that they interfere very little with the creative process.
"The current publisher places no restrictions on game creation whatsoever. Their attitude is, 'Do whatever you want; we'll handle publishing and won't meddle.' This is simply the ideal partnership model."