Doom Veterans Establish New Studio Following id Software Layoffs

Id Software suffered a severe round of layoffs back in July 2026, but around 20 former developer from the pioneers of the Doom franchise have created a new game-focused company. This is great news for anyone who was a fan of Doom‘s modern renaissance, or those who supported games like Doom (2016), Doom: Eternal, and the recent Doom: The Dark Ages being successful in different respects over the last decade or so. While Id Software is now a shell of its former self within Xbox, this new studio could produce games that match the quality that development group consistently delivered.

A total of 136 roles were eliminated at Id Software during the restructure across Xbox, which has claimed thousands of other roles across various groups too. While Xbox has stated that Id Software still retains the “core crew” at the studio needed to keep building games and innovative technology, players estimate that there is only a third of the developer team left that worked on projects like the modern Doom titles. Many of the creators were veterans at Id Software with intricate knowledge of unique game making software, making this new studio formation an even more exciting prospect.

Former Id Software Developers Have Joined Together to Create a New Gaming Studio Called Hidden Horses

Arguably some of the most talented creators in the shooter genre have come together following the layoffs from Id Software to create Hidden Horses, a studio focused on making high-quality shooters to various audiences. This employee-owned company is priding itself on having nearly 250 years of game development experience on-hand, with some of Id Software’s leading veterans spearheading this group uniting. Some notable names from Hidden Horses’ roster include:

• Todd Boyce – Lead VFX Artist at Id Software
• Dustin Land – Principal Engine Programmer on idTech for Id Software
• Daniel Young – Lead AI Engineer at Id Software with 27 years of gaming industry experience
• Tim Locke – Principal Technical Designer at Id Software with 19 years of technical and design experience
• Johnmichael Quinlan – Principal Tools Programmer at Id Software with 20 years of gaming industry experience

Each of the developers at Hidden Horses are co-founders, adopting an approach similar to other studios that have formed in recent years. Much of the experience from the people at the new company comes from actually shipping and making full games, with the group declaring that “we are a team that knows how to find fun and deliver it” on their company website. Keeping the old Id Software team together is already a great relief for gaming technology, as the technical innovations of idTech have a better chance at being preserved at Hidden Horses than perhaps it would with those remaining under Xbox.

Hidden Horse’s Creative Team Is Determined to Make New High-Quality Shooter Titles Through Fan Support

Hidden Horses is prioritizing a democratic approach to what games it makes, as the developer-owned model gives everyone a say as to what people decide to work on. That being said, official company statements claim that “Hidden Horses is an opportunity to…create the kind of old school shooters that we think people want more of.” This suggests that the creative team will focus on the shooter genre once again, but perhaps create titles that call back to the original Doom reboot and its famously revolutionary early iterations. While it may take some time to see this goal come to fruition, it’s a great start for this team of wise industry veterans.

The prioritization of “innovative gameplay over shady monetization” is a good sign too, especially for players who disliked the tiresome skins and other paid cosmetics in games like Doom: Eternal. Currently, Hidden Horses plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign to support the development of the studio’s first game, which has been described as a single player area shooter called Danger Pay. This game has some inspirations from 1987’s The Running Man, based off the Stephen King novel where the main character has to participate in a deadly game show. If the game is anything like the original work, players may have to survive being declared a public enemy, using resourceful thinking to survive an endless onslaught of enemies.

This is only one of the ideas that could come to fruition at Hidden Horses, but regardless of which one is chosen, every team member’s lengthy history with shooters will likely make something memorable. With a better working environment as well, it’s possible that enough support will create a gem of an indie experience, similar to Hollow Knight: Silksong or Mewgenics. With players have a stake in the new studio’s success through their own support, these former Id Software creatives have a bright future ahead of them.

What kind of shooter would you like to see from the newly created Hidden Horses studio? Let us know in the comments below!

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