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CultureQuiet 12d · day 14

John Romero's axed Xbox shooter lands new publisher, 10 staff rehired

Months after Microsoft pulled funding, Romero Games has struck a deal with an undisclosed publisher and rescoped the game for a five-fold smaller team.

newest coverage 11d agosummary written 13d ago13 pieces160 likes & upvotes2 comments BlueskyGoogle NewsMastodonRedditNewswires

What to know

  • The game's new publisher and announcement timing remain undisclosed.
  • The project was rebuilt from scratch after the team shrank from 110 to 5 people, though it reuses art, code and characters from the original build.
  • Romero Games has rehired 10 former team leads, bringing staff to roughly 15-16, which Romero says is the intended final size for the rescoped game.

John Romero Co-founder of Romero Games, Doom/Quake co-creatorMicrosoft Former publisher of the Xbox shooter projectRomero Games Developer of the unannounced shooter

John Romero's axed Xbox shooter lands new publisher, 10 staff rehired
videogameschronicle.com

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 10 pieces in 3h at Oct 30, 8 AM; 13 pieces over 14 days (8 articles · 4 posts · 1 comment) Oct 30, 8 AM — 10 pieces · 7 articles · 3 posts — Google News 7, Bluesky 1, Mastodon 1, +1 moreOct 30, 11 AM — quietOct 30, 2 PM — quietOct 30, 5 PM — quietOct 30, 8 PM — quietOct 30, 11 PM — 1 piece · 1 comment — Reddit 1Oct 31, 2 AM — quietOct 31, 5 AM — quietOct 31, 8 AM — quietOct 31, 11 AM — quietOct 31, 2 PM — quietOct 31, 5 PM — quietOct 31, 8 PM — quietOct 31, 11 PM — quietNov 1, 1 AM — quietNov 1, 4 AM — quietNov 1, 7 AM — quietNov 1, 10 AM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Nov 1, 1 PM — quietNov 1, 4 PM — quietNov 1, 7 PM — quietNov 1, 10 PM — quietNov 2, 1 AM — quietNov 2, 4 AM — quietNov 2, 7 AM — quietNov 2, 10 AM — quietNov 2, 1 PM — quietNov 2, 4 PM — quietNov 2, 7 PM — quietNov 2, 10 PM — quietNov 3, 1 AM — quietNov 3, 4 AM — quietNov 3, 7 AM — quietNov 3, 10 AM — quietNov 3, 1 PM — quietNov 3, 4 PM — quietNov 3, 7 PM — quietNov 3, 10 PM — quietNov 4, 1 AM — quietNov 4, 4 AM — quietNov 4, 7 AM — quietNov 4, 10 AM — quietNov 4, 1 PM — quietNov 4, 4 PM — quietNov 4, 7 PM — quietNov 4, 10 PM — quietNov 5, 1 AM — quietNov 5, 4 AM — quietNov 5, 7 AM — quietNov 5, 10 AM — quietNov 5, 1 PM — quietNov 5, 4 PM — quietNov 5, 7 PM — quietNov 5, 10 PM — quietNov 6, 1 AM — quietNov 6, 4 AM — quietNov 6, 7 AM — quietNov 6, 10 AM — quietNov 6, 1 PM — quietNov 6, 4 PM — quietNov 6, 7 PM — quietNov 6, 10 PM — quietNov 7, 1 AM — quietNov 7, 4 AM — quietNov 7, 7 AM — quietNov 7, 10 AM — quietNov 7, 1 PM — quietNov 7, 4 PM — quietNov 7, 7 PM — quietNov 7, 10 PM — quietNov 8, 1 AM — quietNov 8, 4 AM — quietNov 8, 7 AM — quietNov 8, 10 AM — quietNov 8, 1 PM — quietNov 8, 4 PM — quietNov 8, 7 PM — quietNov 8, 10 PM — quietNov 9, 1 AM — quietNov 9, 4 AM — quietNov 9, 7 AM — quietNov 9, 10 AM — quietNov 9, 1 PM — quietNov 9, 4 PM — quietNov 9, 7 PM — quietNov 9, 10 PM — quietNov 10, 1 AM — quietNov 10, 4 AM — quietNov 10, 7 AM — quietNov 10, 10 AM — quietNov 10, 1 PM — quietNov 10, 4 PM — quietNov 10, 7 PM — quietNov 10, 10 PM — quietNov 11, 1 AM — quietNov 11, 4 AM — quietNov 11, 7 AM — quietNov 11, 10 AM — quietNov 11, 1 PM — quietNov 11, 4 PM — quietNov 11, 7 PM — quietNov 11, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quiet 1
Oct 31Nov 1Nov 2Nov 3Nov 4Nov 5Nov 6Nov 7Nov 8Nov 9Nov 10Nov 11now · 1:55 AM ET
  1. 1

    Romero announces new publisher, rehires 10 staff

    Speaking to VGC at Gamescom Asia, Romero confirmed a new, unnamed publisher has signed on, 10 former team leads have been rehired, and the game has been completely redesigned for a roughly 15-16 person team using assets, art and code salvaged from the original 110-person project.

    “We're just super happy…”
    — John Romero
    • videogameschronicle.com

      John Romero has confirmed to VGC that his axed Xbox game has a new publisher. Some staff have been rehired and the game has been rescoped to suit a smaller team. "We're just super happy," Romero told us.

      videogameschronicle.comBluesky13d ago160▲view on Bluesky ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 3 posts in this stretch
    • nesbot@mastodon.social

      John Romero has found a new publisher for his game and rehired some axed Xbox staff. Game will be scaled down for smaller staff size. https://www. resetera.com/threads/1674713 # gaming # videogames # resetera

      nesbot@mastodon.socialMastodon13d agoview on Mastodon ↗

    • You do realise that games released on Steam and EGS don't give MS a penny, right... Or are you own of the deluded who think all sales on Steam gives something to them (which it obviously doesn't)

      GamePitt_Robr/gaming13d agoview on r/gaming ↗
    all of them →
  2. background

    Romero Games confirms lost funding; staff say studio gutted — Romero Games confirmed it had lost funding for the project. Multiple employees claimed the 'whole studio' was let go, though Romero Games denied it was closing and said it hoped another publisher could save the game.

  3. background

    Microsoft pulls publishing deal for Romero's Xbox shooter — An unspecified publisher, later identified as Microsoft, pulled its publishing agreement for Romero Games' unannounced shooter as part of a wave of layoffs across the company.

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 5 outlets John Romero's canceled game finds a new publisher amidst an overall scope change

    first by Game Developer, 13d ago · also Instant Gaming News, PlayStation Universe, Video Games Chronicle, Polygon

    5 more headlines

and 1 smaller piece

What people are saying 0 voices from 0 sites · best of 3 · verbatim