The founder of Alpha Dog Games, a studio once owned by Xbox, has just updated his LinkedIn profile, and it seems to suggest that the studio has been revived as an independent company. Alpha Dog Games was officially shut down by Xbox in May 2024.
Founded all the way back in 2012, Alpha Dog Games is a Canadian developer that primarily works on mobile titles. Alpha Dog Games was then acquired by ZeniMax Media in 2019, which itself was acquired by Microsoft in 2021. Alpha Dog is best known for its work on Mighty Doom, a mobile dungeon crawler spinoff that earned mixed reviews from critics due to its abundance of microtransactions and its repetitive gameplay formula. In May 2024, Alpha Dog Games was shut down alongside Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin, with former Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty (now Xbox Chief Content Officer) expressing that he appreciates “the team’s creativity in bringing Doom to new players” in an official statement confirming the studio’s closure.
Mighty Doom Developer Seems to Have Been Revived After Xbox Shutdown
Shawn Woods, the founder of Alpha Dog Games, has seemingly just updated his LinkedIn page. Spotted by Vice, in the ‘Experience’ section of Woods’ LinkedIn profile, the Alpha Dog Games’ listing now has the accompanying caption, “Independently owned, again.” This listing also states that Woods has been a founder of the studio since May 2025. Combined, these two elements suggest that Alpha Dog Games may have revived itself last year and been operating as an independent company since. Shawn Woods hasn’t directly confirmed the status of Alpha Dog Games or made any official statement at the time of writing.
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Along with seemingly still working at Alpha Dog Games, Woods is the founder and current Chief Executive Officer of Brave Bear Ventures, a company that “helps founders, startups, game studios, and innovation teams turn bold ideas into products people love,” according to its official LinkedIn page. Woods is also a founding member and current Vice President of the Interactive Society of Nova Scotia, a company that advocates for video game development in Nova Scotia.
On July 6, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed that “approximately 3,200” Xbox developers would be affected by layoffs throughout the 2027 fiscal year. 1,600 Xbox employees have already been affected by these cuts. While these layoffs have stretched across almost every Xbox-owned studio, some of the developers hit hardest were Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, and Arkane Lyon.
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Compulsions Games and Double Fine have already followed a similar trajectory to Alpha Dog Games, if Woods’ recent LinkedIn update is truly indicative of the studio’s current status. Both Compulsion and Double Fine were cut loose from Xbox but have been able to gain independence, and in some cases, have been able to retain their IP. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs, on the other hand, have entered agreements with new, yet-unconfirmed owners. Arkane, sadly, has been left without a parachute, and is currently working with the French government to try and keep its doors open.
