The new year has arrived alongside some bad news for some at Texas-based studio id Software. A representative from parent company Bethesda Softworks confirmed with GameSpot today that the studio recently enacted a round of layoffs. Pink slips have hit Rage's dark world.

　　"As part of its standard business practice, id regularly evaluates staffing to ensure it has a workforce that meets the needs of the studio," read a line from the statement provided to GameSpot. "As part of that process, some id employees were recently let go. id is still recruiting and hiring qualified developers, and development work on future id titles continues unabated."

　　The last release from id Software was Rage, a first-person shooter that was released in October and won generally favorable marks with reviewers. That game went on to become October's fourth best-selling title in a month that saw the release of high-profile games like Battlefield 3, Forza Motorsport 4, and Batman: Arkham City.

　　Currently, the developer is working on Doom 4, which id Software denied as being "indefinitely postponed," as an October rumor suggested.