Update []: In an update to this, Romero Games has published a new statement on social media insisting that the studio isn't closed and the team is actively discussing next steps, with "several publishers" reportedly having reached out over the past few days. Here's a look at the statement in full:
Original Story: Last week, we reported that Romero Games had been caught up in the Xbox layoffs - their new AAA title, helmed by John Romero who created the DOOM franchise, apparently had its funding pulled by Microsoft.
Since then, an interview with an anonymous Romero Games staff member has been getting attention - mainly because they suggest Microsoft talked to the studio a day before pulling funding, and didn't say anything about it.
"We had meetings with the publisher the day before this happened, there was no mention of it."
Now, we're not going to focus on that too much because it's just one staff member — who knows whether upper management were aware or not — but it's clear that at least some of the team were totally shocked by the news. For what it's worth, Romero Games' statement from last week also mentioned that it was above their "visibility or control".
The employee says the studio is now "completely closed" for the time being, but they're "trying to find other ways of funding the project". There's still hope for it - but everything is on hold at the moment - and could be cancelled entirely.
“We’re trying to find other ways of funding the project. But for now, it’s completely closed, and the studio is closed.”
We don't really have any details about the game itself, but with John and Brenda Romero at the forefront, it's something we're definitely intrigued to check out. Let's hope it can find funding somewhere else over the next few weeks.