Veteran developers Brenda and John Romero have described the current state of the games industry as worse than the 1983 crash. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, they highlighted widespread layoffs and studio closures affecting nearly everyone. Brenda Romero called it 'definitely crashier' than the recession that saw video game revenue plummet 97 percent.
Brenda Romero, who worked on Wizardry games in the 1980s and 1990s including as lead designer on Wizardry 8, and her husband John Romero, co-creator of Doom at id Software, shared their concerns ahead of the Dark and Doomy event in Wakefield last week. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Brenda Romero said, 'I feel like the industry’s in a really horrible place. I mean, we were there in the ’80s for the crash, and this is definitely crashier.' She noted the impact on their studio, Romero Games, based in Galway, where Microsoft pulled funding amid nearly 10,000 layoffs across the company last year. The studio shrank from 110 employees to nine after a redundancy process, though a shooter project was rescued and redesigned. 'There are so few people that have not been affected, or their partners affected, or they’re worried about being affected. It’s a really difficult time right now,' Brenda Romero added. John Romero cited Battlefield 6, the best-selling game of 2025, which still led to layoffs at multiple studios. 'I don’t understand what that’s all about,' he said. The 1983 crash followed a flood of low-quality games on consoles, amid rising personal computer popularity, causing revenue to fall 97 percent before recovery with the Nintendo Entertainment System. Unlike then, today's AAA projects exceed $300 million in cost, amplifying risks even for successes.