Former id Software Producer Details Brutal Crunch for Doom: The Dark Ages Expansion
Andrew Willis, a former id Software producer, says the team endured the worst crunch in the series' history while developing the Doom: The Dark Ages - Revelations expansion.
A former id Software producer has described the development of the Doom: The Dark Ages - Revelations expansion as the most intense period of crunch in the franchise's history. Andrew Willis, speaking on the Kiwi Talkz podcast for Insider Gaming, revealed the punishing schedule faced by the team before many were laid off by Microsoft.
Willis stated that the final months of development were exceptionally tight. He reported working at least 12 hours every day for two months, with some days stretching to 17 hours. According to his account, most of the expansion was assembled in just three or four months.
A Shockingly Short Turnaround
The timeline was notably brief for a six-hour expansion, especially when compared to the five-year development cycle of the roughly 20-hour base game. Willis explained that the planned schedule was even shorter but was extended due to feature-creep, where new elements were added during the DLC's construction.
He described the personal cost of this schedule. Willis said there were days where he did not get to see his son the whole day, with multiple days of that sacrificed to get the expansion out the door at the required level of quality. He claimed everyone on the team had similar experiences, with veterans from both game development and Hollywood film production calling it the worst crunch they had ever encountered.
The Pressure of Implied Crunch
Willis clarified that id Software did not officially mandate crunch. However, he argued that the sheer volume of work required within the given timeframe created an unavoidable pressure. He asked what one does when loaded up with 60 hours of work in a week. He characterized the situation as almost pseudo-induced crunch, driven by the quality expectations of both players and the developers themselves.
The intense effort culminated in widespread layoffs. Willis was among the 136 id Software staff cut by Xbox, part of broader Microsoft job reductions totaling 1,600 initially, with another 1,600 planned. He revealed the Revelations team learned of the layoffs the day before the expansion's launch.
Layoffs After the Launch
Willis stated that spending so much energy and hours of life, and sacrificing a bunch of things to get something out the door, only to be laid off, is a wild feeling. The source report speculates that pressure to release the expansion may have been linked to lower sales figures for The Dark Ages compared to 2020's Doom Eternal, though it notes a day-one Game Pass release was a likely factor.
In the aftermath of the layoffs, id Software creative director Hugo Martin has insisted the studio is fine. The revelations from Willis, however, paint a stark picture of the conditions behind one of 2026's notable game expansions.
