The gaming world is reeling from a double dose of news: first, a former developer at id Software has spoken out about the grueling crunch period leading up to the release of Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations, and second, Microsoft is offering incentives for players to pre-order Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Xbox platforms.
The Price of Doom: Crunch and Layoffs at id Software
“We spent the two months leading up to launch working something like at least 12 hours every day,” Willis told Insider Gaming. “I know I hit 17 [hours] a couple of days. It was brutal, and the majority of the game got made in three or four months.” He added that he often missed seeing his son due to the demanding schedule.
The layoffs at id Software were particularly devastating, reportedly impacting over half the studio’s workforce. While some downplayed the impact, others expressed concern about the loss of key senior staff and expertise crucial to the Doom franchise and its engine technology. Willis acknowledged that while not officially mandated, the workload was so overwhelming that developers felt compelled to push themselves to meet deadlines.
“You get loaded up with 60 hours of work in a week, and what do you do?” he asked. “You can make a version of that work that would probably be just barely passable, but is that what you want to put your name on? It’s almost this thing, like, at the level of quality that the players expect and that you expect from yourself, it’s kind of, like, almost pseudo-induced crunch.”
The timing of the layoffs, so soon after the intense development period, left many feeling betrayed. “You spend so much of your energy and hours of your life, and sacrifice a bunch of things, to get something out the door, and then they lay you off the day before,” Willis said.
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