Romero Games, the studio headed up by John and Brenda Romero, has announced that an unspecified publisher has canceled funding for its new game, and it's believed to be Microsoft.
In a post, Brenda Romero said "our publisher has canceled funding for our game along with several other unannounced projects at other studios." She added, "This was a strategic decision made at a high level within the publisher, well above our visibility or control."
The wording and the timing suggests that Microsoft was the publisher for this new game, given Microsoft just confirmed it had canceled multiple unannounced games. Romero Games said years ago when its new FPS was announced that it was working with a "major" publisher, and Microsoft would fit that bill. An affected staffer at Romero Games said outright on social media that, "Unfortunately, due to the recent Xbox layoffs, I've lost my position at Romero Games."
Romero went on to say, "We deeply wish there had been something, anything, we could have done to prevent this outcome." She added that Romero Games "hit every milestone on time, every time, consistently received high praises, and easily passed all our internal gates."
"We are incredibly proud of the work being done, and of the talented team behind it," she said.
Romero said the studio is now "evaluating next steps and working quickly to support our team." According to an affected staffer, the "whole studio" is being let go.
In 2022, John Romero released a new Doom II level with all proceeds going to help the people of Ukraine.
If the new FPS from Romero Games was indeed canceled by Microsoft, it would join the likes of Everwild and Perfect Dark in being cancelled as a result of Microsoft latest changes. It was also reported that Microsoft canceled a new MMORPG from ZeniMax Online Studios. Beyond cancelling games, Microsoft closed Perfect Dark developer The Initiative and laid off numerous people across its business.
Source
In a post, Brenda Romero said "our publisher has canceled funding for our game along with several other unannounced projects at other studios." She added, "This was a strategic decision made at a high level within the publisher, well above our visibility or control."
The wording and the timing suggests that Microsoft was the publisher for this new game, given Microsoft just confirmed it had canceled multiple unannounced games. Romero Games said years ago when its new FPS was announced that it was working with a "major" publisher, and Microsoft would fit that bill. An affected staffer at Romero Games said outright on social media that, "Unfortunately, due to the recent Xbox layoffs, I've lost my position at Romero Games."
Romero went on to say, "We deeply wish there had been something, anything, we could have done to prevent this outcome." She added that Romero Games "hit every milestone on time, every time, consistently received high praises, and easily passed all our internal gates."
"We are incredibly proud of the work being done, and of the talented team behind it," she said.
Romero said the studio is now "evaluating next steps and working quickly to support our team." According to an affected staffer, the "whole studio" is being let go.
In 2022, John Romero released a new Doom II level with all proceeds going to help the people of Ukraine.
If the new FPS from Romero Games was indeed canceled by Microsoft, it would join the likes of Everwild and Perfect Dark in being cancelled as a result of Microsoft latest changes. It was also reported that Microsoft canceled a new MMORPG from ZeniMax Online Studios. Beyond cancelling games, Microsoft closed Perfect Dark developer The Initiative and laid off numerous people across its business.
Source