Doom Producer Describes Worst Crunch
A former id Software producer says the team endured the worst crunch in the series' history while developing the Doom: The Dark Ages expansion
Former id Software producer Andrew Willis has described an intense period of crunch during the development of Doom: The Dark Ages - Revelations. Willis, speaking on the Kiwi Talkz podcast for Insider Gaming, called it the worst crunch in the series' history.
Willis explained the punishing schedule, reporting he worked at least 12 hours every day for two months, with some days reaching 17 hours. He described the experience as brutal, stating that most of the expansion was assembled in just three or four months.
A Short Turnaround and Feature Creep
The timeframe is notably short for an expansion reported to be around six hours long. The main Doom: The Dark Ages game, which takes about 20 hours to complete, had a five-year development cycle. According to Willis, the expansion's schedule was intended to be even tighter but was extended due to feature-creep, with new elements being added during development.
Willis detailed the personal cost, explaining 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 stated that everyone on the team had similar experiences.
Veteran Developers Shocked
Even seasoned developers were reportedly shocked. Willis claimed the team included people with 20 years in Hollywood and 10 years in game development who said this was the worst crunch they had ever experienced.
Willis clarified that crunch was not officially mandated by id Software. However, he suggested the workload and deadlines made it inevitable, characterizing it as almost pseudo-induced crunch driven by the quality expectations of both players and the developers themselves.
Layoffs After Launch
Andrew Willis was among the 136 id Software staff laid off by Microsoft in a wider series of cuts that eliminated 1,600 jobs initially, with another 1,600 planned. The Revelations team reportedly learned of the layoffs the day before the expansion launched.
Willis reflected on the feeling of spending so much energy and hours of life, and sacrificing a bunch of things to get something out the door, only to then be laid off, calling it a wild feeling.
The source report speculates on potential reasons for the rushed expansion, noting that The Dark Ages sold significantly fewer copies than 2020's Doom Eternal, though this was expected as it launched day one on Xbox Game Pass. Despite the layoffs, id Software creative director Hugo Martin has insisted the studio is fine.
