A former id Software producer has openly spoken about the development history of the Revelations DLC for Doom: The Dark Ages – and the outcome is grim. Andrew Willis, who worked as a producer on the expansion, reports a workload that even experienced industry veterans at id Software have called the worst of their careers.
How Bad Was the Crunch on the Revelations DLC, Really?
According to Willis, he himself occasionally worked 80-hour weeks; for over two months, he reportedly worked at least twelve hours practically every day – with some individual days extending to as many as 17 hours. The majority of the DLC content was created in just three to four months. Willis states that the overtime was not mandated from above but stemmed from a self-imposed commitment to complete the expansion on time and to the desired quality. Colleagues who had been in game development for around ten years, and some who previously worked in Hollywood for decades, reportedly described the crunch as the worst of their careers to date.
Why Does the Timing of This Revelation Stir Up Additional Outrage?
What makes the story particularly bitter: Willis, along with dozens of other id Software employees, was laid off as part of Microsoft's major Xbox layoff wave – just one day before Revelations officially launched. So, those who pushed hard to finish the DLC soon after lost their jobs at the very company for which they had previously exhausted themselves.
Is id Software Alone with This Problem?
No. Reports of long overtime and crunch phases have accompanied major studio productions industry-wide for years, and id Software has repeatedly been the subject of such discussions even with previous Doom titles. What's particularly new is the combination of crunch and layoffs within a matter of hours – a pattern also observed at other studios in 2026. Just recently, we reported on similar cost-cutting measures at Bit Reactor concerning Star Wars: Zero Company.
From our perspective, this is not an isolated incident but a symptom of a structural problem: As long as studios rely on voluntary overtime shortly before release to meet quality standards, and publishers simultaneously make cuts at precisely that moment, the trust between development teams and management will hardly change. Anyone playing the DLC now should be aware of the conditions under which it was created.
Source: Eurogamer
What do you think: Should publishers intervene more strongly to prevent crunch at their studios? Discuss with us in the comments.
Comments (0)
No comments yet — be the first to share your take.