There is a difference between questionable management when your company consists of under 10 employees (aka ultra-startup mode) vs. when you are a large gamedev

There is a difference between questionable management when your company consists of under 10 employees (aka ultra-startup mode) vs. when you are a large gamedev company under the umbrella of a massive publisher. A lot of things can be more understandable when you are a single-digit employee count company running on a shoestring budget (which iD Software was at the time), especially when no intentional malice was present. It is another thing when you are a large dev company that has a massive financial backing of a massive publisher, and you appear to be intentionally malicious towards a single contributor who did nothing wrong and was instrumental to your success.