Romero Games Project Loses Funding After Alleged Microsoft Cuts

Romero Games announced that its unannounced next project has lost funding. A former employee claimed this was due to this week’s Microsoft budget cuts.

In a statement by Brenda Romero (via VGC), the studio announced: “last night we learned that our publisher has canceled funding for our game, along with several other unannounced projects from other studios.”

“This was a high-level strategic decision made at the publisher, far above our visibility or control. We deeply wish there was something, anything we could have done to prevent this outcome,” the statement concluded.

Following this announcement, Christoph Redl, former Hard Surface Artist at Romero Games, took to social media to state that “due to the recent cuts at Xbox, I lost my position at Romero Games,” seemingly confirming the unidentified publisher from the original statement was Microsoft Game Studios.

A Romero Games employee claimed that “the entire studio” is being laid off as a result of Microsoft’s cuts, with many announcing on LinkedIn that they have lost their jobs.

“Today I discovered our entire studio is being let go because of the Microsoft layoffs,” one artist wrote on the platform. “I was devastated to find out this morning that Romero Games is closing due to the publisher cuts, which means that for the second time this year, I’m looking for a new role,” wrote another.

Romero Games is based in Galway, Ireland. The team, which included over 75 developers in 2024, had not fully revealed its next project beyond it being an Unreal Engine 5 first-person shooter.