- 15 minutes ago
John Romero's cancelled first-person shooter is officially getting another chance!
After reportedly losing its publishing deal with Xbox amid Microsoft's 2025 gaming layoffs, Romero Games has found a new publisher willing to fund the project. Even better, the new agreement has allowed the studio to bring back 10 developers who were previously laid off.
But there's a major change.
The original game was being developed by a team of approximately 110 people. With the studio's workforce dramatically reduced, Romero has confirmed that the original version can no longer be completed. Instead, the game is being completely redesigned and rebuilt around a much smaller development team.
The good news? The studio is salvaging artwork, weapons, and other assets from the original project, while its new publisher reportedly isn't imposing any creative demands.
Can John Romero and his smaller team turn this setback into a success? Let's discuss!
What do you think? Can a smaller development team deliver a great FPS experience? Let me know in the comments!
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Game On!
After reportedly losing its publishing deal with Xbox amid Microsoft's 2025 gaming layoffs, Romero Games has found a new publisher willing to fund the project. Even better, the new agreement has allowed the studio to bring back 10 developers who were previously laid off.
But there's a major change.
The original game was being developed by a team of approximately 110 people. With the studio's workforce dramatically reduced, Romero has confirmed that the original version can no longer be completed. Instead, the game is being completely redesigned and rebuilt around a much smaller development team.
The good news? The studio is salvaging artwork, weapons, and other assets from the original project, while its new publisher reportedly isn't imposing any creative demands.
Can John Romero and his smaller team turn this setback into a success? Let's discuss!
What do you think? Can a smaller development team deliver a great FPS experience? Let me know in the comments!
đź‘Ť If you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up!
đź”” Subscribe and ring the notification bell so you don't miss future gaming news and videos!
SUPPORT THE CHANNEL ON PATREON!
Want to support the channel and get access to exclusive content? Jin my Patreon for just *$1 a month!
My latest Patreon-exclusive video:
When A Famous Name Isn't Enough: The Pressure Of Living Up To A Gaming Legend
https://www.patreon.com/cw/JamesSchierer
Thanks for watching!
Game On!
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GamingTranscript
00:00Imagine spending years developing a brand new first-person shooter, building a team of more than 100 developers, and getting
00:06deep into production, only for the publisher backing your project to pull the plug.
00:11For a lot of independent studios, that could be the end of the road.
00:15But for John Romero, the legendary game designer behind Doom, and one of the co-founders of id Software, the
00:21story isn't over just yet.
00:23His previously cancelled, Xbox-backed first-person shooter has found a new publisher, and not only is the project alive
00:29again, but some of the developers who lost their jobs during the cancellation are returning to work on it.
00:35However, there's a pretty significant catch.
00:38The game that originally involved a team of 110 people is no longer the game Romero originally envisioned.
00:43Instead, the project has undergone a complete redesign, with its scope reduced to something a much smaller development team can
00:53realistically accomplish.
00:55And honestly, this story raises some interesting questions about the state of game development, publisher relationships, and what happens when
01:02a studio has to rebuild a project when losing its financial backing.
01:06So how did John Romero manage to bring the game back from the dead, and what does this mean for
01:11the future of Romero games?
01:12Let's get into it.
01:15To understand why this is such a significant development, we need to go back to 2022.
01:20That was when Romero Games announced that it was working on a brand new first-person shooter.
01:25The project was an entirely original intellectual property, meaning this wasn't another installment in an established franchise on a revival
01:33of one of Romero's previous games.
01:35It was something new, and considering John Romero's history in the gaming industry, there was plenty of reason to be
01:41interested.
01:42For those who might not know, Romero was one of the key figures behind the original Doom, a game that
01:47helped define the first-person shooter genre and influenced countless developers who came afterward.
01:52So naturally, the announcement of a new first-person shooter from Romero Games attracted attention.
01:58The project was being developed with a substantial team, eventually reaching approximately 110 people.
02:05That's a considerable undertaking, especially for a studio that isn't one of the industry's massive publishers.
02:11Unfortunately, things took a dramatic turn in the summer of 2025.
02:15Microsoft underwent significant layoffs across its gaming division, and Romero Games reportedly found itself caught up in the fallout.
02:22The company's financial backing for the project disappeared, leaving the studio facing an uncertain future.
02:29And this wasn't simply a matter of delaying the game for a few months or reducing its marketing budget.
02:34The project was effectively left without the support it needed to continue development in its original form.
02:39The consequences were severe. Romero explained that the studio's workforce eventually dropped from approximately 110 people to just 5.
02:48Think about that for a moment.
02:50A development team that had spent years working on an ambitious first-person shooter had essentially been reduced to a
02:56skeleton crew.
02:57For the people involved, this wasn't just another project being delayed.
03:01It meant losing their jobs, watching years of work become uncertain, and wondering whether the game they had been building
03:07would ever see the light of day.
03:09And for Romero Games, it meant figuring out whether there was any realistic way to keep the studio and the
03:15project alive.
03:16But fortunately, this wasn't where the story ended.
03:19Romero Games managed to secure a new publishing agreement, giving the studio another opportunity to finish the project.
03:26And perhaps one of the most encouraging parts of this announcement is that the new agreement has allowed the studio
03:31to bring back 10 developers who were previously laid off.
03:35That's a pretty significant turnaround considering the studio had reached a point where only 5 people remained.
03:41However, getting the game back into development didn't mean simply picking up where the original team had left off.
03:46In fact, Romero had to make a much bigger decision.
03:50Here's where things get particularly interesting.
03:53When a game has been in development for years, there's an understandable temptation to try to preserve everything.
03:59After all, we're talking about an enormous amount of work.
04:02Art assets, weapons, environments, gameplay systems, animations, and countless other elements can represent years of effort from dozens or even
04:11hundreds of developers.
04:13Throwing all of that away would be an incredibly difficult decision.
04:16But Romero recognized that the original project simply wasn't realistic anymore.
04:21In discussing the situation, he explained that the original game was designed around a development team of approximately 110 people.
04:29And with the studio having lost the vast majority of that workforce, completing the original version wasn't possible.
04:36Romero was remarkably direct about it.
04:38He explained,
04:39We're not getting that game to the end.
04:41That game we can't get to the end because it's a 110 person game.
04:47That's a pretty sobering admission.
04:49Think about what that actually means.
04:51This wasn't a situation where the studio could simply work a little harder, stretch its remaining resources, and eventually deliver
04:58the same experience.
04:59The entire structure of the project had to change.
05:02A game designed around the resources, manpower, and production capabilities of a 110 person team cannot necessarily be completed by
05:11a fraction of that workforce.
05:12And pretending otherwise could potentially lead to years of additional development, financial problems, and another unfinished project.
05:20Instead, Romero Games made the decision to completely redesign the game.
05:23Not just trim a few features, not just reduce the number of environments or enemies, a complete redesign into a
05:30different game.
05:31Now, before anyone assumes that this means everything from the original project has been thrown away, that's not actually the
05:38case.
05:38Romero explained that the redesigned game will reuse a substantial amount of work from the previous version.
05:46That includes artwork, weapons, and other assets that can be incorporated into the new project.
05:51And that's an important distinction.
05:53Because while the original game might no longer be possible, the years of work that went into developing it haven't
05:59necessarily been wasted.
06:00The team can take the pieces that still make sense, adapt them to the new direction, and use that existing
06:06material as a foundation.
06:08Essentially, instead of starting completely from scratch, Romero Games is rebuilding the experience around the resources it actually has available.
06:16And I think that's a pretty sensible approach.
06:18There's a difference between abandoning a project and recognizing that the original vision needs to change.
06:24Sometimes the best way to save a game is to accept that it can no longer be made the way
06:28you originally intended.
06:30And that's exactly the situation Romero Games has found itself in.
06:35One of the most interesting aspects of this announcement is how Romero is approaching the redesigned project.
06:40Rather than trying to rebuild the original 110 person workforce, the studio has decided to develop something that fits its
06:48current circumstances.
06:50Romero explained that the game's scope has been re-planned around the size of the team that is now working
06:55on it.
06:55And apparently, the studio is comfortable with that arrangement.
06:59We don't need to be bigger than that.
07:00The game is scoped for a team that's that size, and we're just super happy.
07:05I think there's an important lesson here about game development.
07:08Bigger doesn't automatically mean better, and a development team doesn't necessarily need to consist of hundreds of people to create
07:15something worthwhile.
07:17Of course, having more developers can allow studios to tackle larger projects, produce more content, and work on multiple aspects
07:24of a game simultaneously.
07:26But there's also a financial and organizational cost associated with maintaining a team of that size.
07:32The larger the project becomes, the more resources are required to keep it moving.
07:36And when the financial backing disappears, that enormous production can quickly become a liability.
07:42By comparison, a smaller project with a clearly defined scope can potentially be much easier to manage.
07:49That's not to say that smaller development teams don't face their own challenges.
07:53They absolutely do.
07:54Developers may have to take on multiple responsibilities, production can still be demanding, and even a relatively modest game can
08:02run into unexpected problems.
08:03But there's something to be said for building a game around the people and resources you actually have rather than
08:09trying to maintain an ambition that your studio can no longer afford.
08:13And considering what happened to Romero Games, this could be the difference between the studio surviving and the project disappearing
08:20entirely.
08:20There's also another detail about the new publishing agreement that deserves some attention.
08:25Because finding a publisher willing to fund the project was only part of the equation.
08:31Romero also needed a publisher that would allow the studio to actually make the game it wanted to make.
08:36Romero hasn't publicly revealed the identity of the new publisher.
08:40However, he has shared something that could be just as important as the financial backing itself.
08:45According to Romero, the new publishing partner doesn't have any creative goals or demands for the game.
08:51In other words, the publisher is providing the funding without attempting to dictate the creative direction of the project.
08:57And that's a pretty interesting arrangement, because the relationship between developers and publishers can be complicated.
09:03Publishers often provide the financial resources necessary to turn a development project into a finished product.
09:10They can help with marketing, distribution, production, support, and getting a game in front of an audience.
09:17But that financial relationship can also come with expectations.
09:21A publisher might want a particular release date, certain gameplay features, a specific commercial direction, or changes designed to make
09:28a game appeal to a wider audience.
09:30Sometimes those requests can benefit a project.
09:33Other times, they can create disagreements between the people funding a game and the people actually making it.
09:39And when a development studio has already experienced the consequences of losing its publisher,
09:44finding a partner that gives it creative freedom could be particularly valuable.
09:48Romero's description suggests that the new publisher is willing to let the studio focus on making the game rather than
09:54imposing its own creative vision.
09:56That's encouraging, especially considering that Romero Games has already had to make some enormous compromises just to keep the project
10:03alive.
10:04The studio has redesigned the game, reduced its scope, and rebuilt its development team around a much smaller workforce.
10:11The last thing it needs is another situation where the people making the game are forced to pursue a direction
10:16that doesn't match the resources available to them.
10:20Of course, we'll have to wait and see how this relationship develops.
10:23A publisher saying it won't interfere creatively is one thing.
10:27Seeing how that arrangement works throughout the remainder of development is another.
10:31But for now, this sounds like the kind of partnership Romero Games needed.
10:35And hopefully, it gives the developers the stability they need to finally finish what they started.
10:40So, where does all of this leave Romero Games?
10:43Well, the most important thing is that the studio has another opportunity.
10:47A project that appeared to be finished after the loss of its original publisher has found new financial backing.
10:53Ten previously laid off developers have returned.
10:56And the studio has a redesigned game that is supposedly much better suited to the workforce it currently has.
11:01That's a considerably better position than where things stood when the project was reportedly cancelled.
11:08But I also think there's a bigger conversation worth having here.
11:11The video game industry has spent years pushing towards increasingly ambitious productions,
11:16bigger worlds, more detailed environments, more elaborate gameplay systems,
11:21larger development teams, and increasingly expensive projects.
11:25There's nothing inherently wrong with ambition.
11:27Some of gaming's most memorable experiences have come from developers attempting the things that seemed almost impossible at the time.
11:35But the industry has also demonstrated what can happen when those ambitions become disconnected from the financial realities of development.
11:42When a project requires more than 100 people to finish, what happens if the publisher suddenly pulls its funding?
11:49What happens when layoffs eliminate the workforce responsible for completing the game?
11:53And what happens when the original production plan becomes impossible to maintain?
11:58Romero Games has found one possible answer.
12:01Adapt.
12:02Reuse what you can.
12:03Reconsider what the game needs to be.
12:05And build something that can realistically be completed with the people you have.
12:09I don't think that necessarily means every cancelled game should be redesigned into a smaller experience.
12:14Some projects simply cannot survive the loss of their original funding.
12:18But this situation demonstrates why flexibility can be so important in game development.
12:23And there's another reason why I'm interested in seeing how this particular project turns out.
12:28John Romero isn't just another developer trying to get an independent first person shooter onto the market.
12:34He's someone whose previous work helped shape an entire genre.
12:37That doesn't automatically guarantee that his next game will be a masterpiece.
12:41Gaming history is full of legendary developers who have struggled to recapture their previous successes.
12:48But it does mean there's an interesting story behind this particular project.
12:52We're not just watching the development of a new first person shooter.
12:55We're watching a studio attempt to recover from a major setback, preserve years of creative work, and prove that a
13:02smaller team can still deliver something worthwhile.
13:04And honestly, I'd love to see them succeed.
13:07Ultimately, I think the most encouraging part of this entire story is that Romero Games didn't simply give up.
13:13A project that originally required 110 developers is being reimagined for a much smaller team.
13:19Work from the original game is being salvaged.
13:22Ten developers have been brought back, and a new publisher is providing the financial support needed to continue development.
13:28We don't know exactly what the redesigned game will look like.
13:33We don't know when it will be released, and we don't even know who the new publisher is yet.
13:37But at least the project has another chance.
13:40And considering how close Romero Games came to losing everything, that's a pretty significant development.
13:45I'm definitely interested in seeing what John Romero and his team ultimately deliver.
13:51Because sometimes the most interesting gaming stories aren't about a developer creating something bigger than ever before.
13:57Sometimes they're about a developer finding a way to keep going when everything seems to be working against them.
14:03But what do you think?
14:04Do you believe John Romero and his smaller development team could actually successfully deliver this redesigned first person shooter?
14:12And do you think this situation demonstrates that the gaming industry needs to rethink its obsession with increasingly massive development
14:19teams?
14:20Let me know what you think down in the comments.
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14:28so you don't miss any of my future uploads.
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14:42My most recent Patreon exclusive video is where a famous name isn't enough, the pressure of living up to a
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14:59Thank you all for watching, and as always, game on!