Romero Games' Shooter Loses Funding Amid Microsoft Cuts

Romero Games, the studio co-founded by Doom creator John Romero and Brenda Romero, has expressed deep disappointment after learning that financial backing for its next game has been withdrawn. The cancellation, reportedly tied to Microsoft's latest cost-cutting measures, has placed the project and its development team in jeopardy.

In an official statement, studio director Brenda Romero confirmed that the company's publisher and financial partner informed them it was pulling out of the project yesterday evening, along with several other unannounced titles at other studios.

A separate social media post from a now-former Romero Games employee indicated they had lost their job at the studio "due to the recent Xbox layoffs." IGN has reached out to Microsoft for comment.

The news follows Microsoft's latest round of widespread layoffs affecting multiple internal Xbox studios, leading to the cancellation of projects like Everwild and Perfect Dark, along with other unannounced titles backed by Microsoft.

"This strategic decision was made at a high level within the publisher, far beyond our visibility or influence," Romero stated. "We sincerely wish there had been anything we could have done to prevent this outcome."

Romero indicated that the publisher's decision came as a surprise, especially since Romero Games had "consistently met every milestone on schedule, received excellent feedback, and cleared all internal gates successfully."

For now, Romero Games is "evaluating next steps and moving swiftly to support our team," and has called on anyone with "opportunities or ways to assist our incredible team members" to get in touch.

"This team is the finest group of people I've ever collaborated with," shared John Romero in a social media post. "I'm saddened to confirm that our game and studio have also been affected."

Recent titles from Romero Games include 2019's Sigil and its 2023 sequel Sigil 2, as well as the mafia strategy game Empire of Sin, released in 2020.

While details about the studio's recent work have been scarce, it was known that they were developing a new first-person shooter using Unreal Engine 5. In July 2022, the studio announced it was expanding to work on the project after securing funding.

"It's a fresh start for Romero Games," the studio stated at the time. "We're partnering with a major publisher to create John Romero's next shooter: an all-new FPS featuring an original IP."