And the crisis is far from over
Abandoned by Xbox, the Romero duo was still able to save their next game, even if it meant reducing their ambition around it. Asked about this during the Dark and Doomy event by GamesIndustry.biz, the couple also returned to the catastrophic state of the industry in 2026, Brenda Romero does not hesitate to declare that this situation is undoubtedly worse than the famous crisis of 1983 :
“ I have the impression that the sector is going through a truly catastrophic period. We were there in the 80s during the crisis, and this one is much more serious. Few have not been affected, either directly or indirectly, or fear being affected. The current period is really difficult […] Honestly, I don’t know where this is going. We hear that behind the scenes there is a lot of pressure for teams to use generative AI, but also a lot of opposition from teams and players… And before you ask, we don’t use generative AI. So, I’m lost. »
John Romero also doesn’t understand this industry that can launch a successful game like Battlefield 6 while seeing Electronic Arts lay off massively a few months later. A situation which obviously complicates the arrival of new, smaller projects like the one led by Romero Games.
As a reminder, John Romero is particularly known for his work on DOOM while Brenda Romero has games like Wizardry 8 And Jagged Alliance. Two names which could therefore logically attract investors, if the industry was not what it is today.