id Software says it now works closer than ever with MachineGames after Xbox layoffs
Studio co-director Marty Stratton confirmed about half of id left in the cuts, and says shared engine work with the Wolfenstein team began earlier in 2026.
id Software is working more closely with Wolfenstein studio MachineGames than at any point before, co-director Marty Stratton told IGN at a press event this week for Doom: The Dark Ages - Revelations. Stratton also confirmed that about half of id's staff left in the Xbox layoffs, and said the deeper partnership with the Swedish studio was set in motion earlier in 2026, before the cuts landed.
What Stratton actually said
Stratton described the studio as "doing great" despite the losses, and said there had been a deliberate effort to keep id viable across both game development and its technology department. On MachineGames, he pointed to engineering: both teams have strong engineers, and he called the current technology path "amazing." He did not name a shared game.
The tech link is not new. MachineGames has built every one of its games, from Wolfenstein: The New Order to 2024's Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, on id Tech. A closer joint effort on the engine side would make the pairing even tighter.
The Wolfenstein question
IGN's Ryan McCaffrey openly speculated that the two studios could be co-developing MachineGames' next game, widely expected to be a third Wolfenstein. Studio head Jerk Gustafsson has said "we're not done with Wolfenstein yet," and an Amazon Wolfenstein series is in development. Treat that as informed guesswork; neither studio has announced a project.
It does fit the direction from the top. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has said she wants first-party teams focused on their biggest franchises and on shipping faster, a line Bethesda boss Jill Braff has repeated. With id's Dark Ages support winding down after Revelations, folding id's experience into another shooter is the sort of move that strategy points to.
For Doom players
Doom: The Dark Ages and its Revelations DLC are out now, and older entries like Doom Eternal and the classic Doom + Doom II remain the best way to see id Tech's lineage. What id builds next, alone or alongside MachineGames, has not been revealed, and Stratton gave no timing for an announcement.
Source: IGN.
