Leaving id Software To Start Your Own Studio: The Turnkey Games Journey

Amid an unprecedented wave of layoffs sweeping the game industry — most notably Microsoft's plan to cut 3,200 jobs at id Software — Tony Garza (former Art Director on Doom Eternal) and his cousin Richard O'Neal chose to leave the AAA world and start their own independent studio. Legion Team rounds up and translates the key lessons from their journey.

The two former id Software employees co-founded Turnkey Games, an independent studio based in Dallas, Texas, to chase their own creative vision — a move that, in hindsight, came just ahead of Microsoft's layoff announcement, underscoring just how unstable the AAA industry has become.

Why Go Indie?

Garza and O'Neal's decision to leave id Software wasn't purely financial — it was a growing disconnect in values and vision. They felt increasingly out of step with leadership's decisions and the direction the industry as a whole was heading.

"We felt increasingly disconnected from some of the values and decisions we were seeing around us, and the broader direction of the industry pushed us to go build something of our own," Garza said.

Their instincts proved right when Microsoft later announced sweeping layoffs, fueling anxiety across the industry about job security. Leaving early not only helped them dodge the risk of being laid off — it also handed them creative freedom and control over their own fate.

The "Bootstrapping" Strategy And Staying Lean

Unlike AAA studios that typically rely on publishers to bankroll production with massive budgets, Turnkey Games chose to self-fund (bootstrap), keeping operating costs as low as possible.

Their core strategy includes:

• Growing the team slowly: no mass hiring — new hires only join when truly needed to improve the game's quality, not just to make the team "bigger."
• Putting the budget on screen: every dollar goes straight toward making the game — dev kits, software, specialist contractors, legal costs, and marketing.
• No bloated office: they don't spend on a big office or heavy overhead before the game can support itself.
• Scope discipline: they're honest with themselves about what's achievable with modest resources. Any idea that doesn't clearly add value to the game gets cut or simplified.

"Most of the money goes straight into making the game... The goal is always to put as much of the budget on screen as possible." — Richard O'Neal.

Lessons From A Decade In AAA: Turning "Limits" Into A Weapon

Even after leaving the AAA world, the skills and mindset they built at id Software remain a valuable foundation. Still, they had to unlearn some habits to fit an indie scale.

1. The "Is The Game Better?" Question

Garza says the single most important lesson from his AAA years is to always ask: "Is the game better?" Before adding any feature, system, or polish pass, they ask themselves: "Will players notice? Will they care?" If the answer is no, that's a sign the time spent isn't worth it.

2. Simplicity Is Key

O'Neal came to realize that AAA's "every system must support every scenario" mindset works at massive scale, but it will "bury" an indie studio. Indies need focus — instead of building complex systems, they look for the simplest solution that still delivers a good player experience, accepting lean tools as long as they're reliable.

3. "Good Enough" To Keep The Momentum

A major challenge for developers coming from a perfectionist environment is, well, perfectionism. Garza realized that in indie development, momentum matters more than perfection. "Work fast and iterate" is the mantra — sometimes "good enough" is the right call to keep moving forward, rather than chasing perfection until the budget runs dry.

The Risk And Reward Of Going It Alone

Going indie doesn't mean risk disappears — it means the nature of the risk changes.

• Personal risk: instead of the stability of a large company structure, creative, technical, and financial risk now become personal. The founders handle contracts, marketing, trailers, platform requirements, budgeting, and hiring themselves.
• Autonomy: the biggest reward is ownership. They can make decisions quickly, pursue ideas they believe in, and build a game that carries their personal stamp.
• Direct connection: there's a direct line between the work they do and what players ultimately experience. Every milestone means something, because they know exactly the effort it took to get there.

Advice For Anyone Wanting To Go Indie

Tony Garza offers some honest advice drawn from real experience:

1. Start small: don't be overly ambitious right out of the gate.
2. Scope realistically: plan development assuming features will grow in scope, but prioritize actually finishing the project.
3. Don't chase perfection: don't spend years chasing perfection — you'll run out of budget long before you get there.
4. Ship a "good" game: instead of waiting for a perfect masterpiece, focus on finishing and releasing a quality product.
5. Learn and iterate: after launch, learn from feedback and use it to build your next project.

"Ship a good game, learn from it, and build from there. That's really our whole approach." — Tony Garza.

First Project: "Apart"

Turnkey Games is developing a third-person survival horror game called "Apart." It's a strikingly original project in which players control a flexible severed arm and a modular zombie child to navigate a post-apocalyptic world. The idea's uniqueness reflects Turnkey Games' philosophy: find a niche and dig deep into it rather than trying to serve everyone.

The 2026 Game Industry Backdrop

Turnkey Games' story is unfolding during a turbulent moment for the game industry:

• Microsoft/id Software just announced plans to lay off 3,200 employees, sparking major uncertainty.
• Strikes and worker demands at Rockstar are ongoing in Glasgow.
• Blizzard just signed a landmark contract protecting 1,900 union employees.

Against that backdrop, Garza and O'Neal's choice to go indie is more than a personal decision — it's a statement of self-determination and a response to the instability of the game industry's job market.

Conclusion

Tony Garza and Richard O'Neal's journey from id Software to Turnkey Games is a vivid illustration that:

• Instability can be a catalyst: when a work environment stops feeling safe, creating your own opportunity can be a sustainable path forward.
• Limits are an opportunity: tight budgets and small teams force indie studios to be more creative, more focused, and to make smarter decisions.
• Ownership is the biggest reward: despite the higher risk, the creative freedom and the ability to see the direct results of your work bring a sense of fulfillment that's hard to find in AAA.

"If you've always wanted to build something of your own, it can be incredibly worthwhile. My advice is to start small, scope realistically while assuming features will grow, and focus on actually finishing." — Tony Garza.

Turnkey Games' journey isn't just a story about one game — it's a lesson in adaptability, creativity, and courage in a turbulent industry. They've shown that even in the toughest of times, believing in your own vision and staying the course you chose can still lead to remarkable success.

Source: gamedeveloper.com