Romero Games secures new publisher after retaining full IP on axed Xbox shooter

Microsoft pulled funding for Romero Games' unannounced shooter during 2025 Xbox layoffs. Staff fell from 110 to five as the studio searched for new funding. Full ownership of the IP, art and code let Romero Games redesign the project. A new, undisclosed publisher has signed on, and ten former leads have been rehired.

Romero Games owned the name, IP, art and code of the canceled project outright.
That ownership let Romero design a new game around existing assets, cutting dev time.
"We 100% own everything...I needed to basically design a new game that could use as much of that stuff as possible, to just basically get a head start." - John Romero, Co-founder, Romero Games

Team size fell from 110 staff to five before stabilizing near fifteen to sixteen.
Romero rehired ten former sub-team leads rather than rebuilding a full production roster.
The original 110-person game could not be finished by the smaller team, forcing a redesign.
Reused art, characters and shooter code gave the new project a head start.

The new, undisclosed publisher sets no creative direction on the project, Romero said.
Romero said he would avoid large-publisher deals that typically redirect a studio's creative vision.
"The publisher we're with right now has zero creative goals for this game...That's the perfect deal." - John Romero, Co-founder, Romero Games
The 15 to 16-person team runs without producers, which Romero called the right size.

For Investors & VC: Add retained IP and codebase ownership to diligence on publisher-funded studios.
For Publishers & Developers: Pitch hands-off funding deals to defunded veteran studios that hold reusable assets.