Approximately 80 workers have lost their jobs.
More layoffs have hit the video games industry, with Destroy All Humans‘ Black Forest Games reportedly laying off 50 employees, and Outriders‘ People Can Fly reportedly laying off 30 employees.
A report from Kotaku suggests that Black Forest Games has laid off creative directors and most, “if not all”, of its managers. Black Forest Games has yet to comment on the report.
The same report adds that People Can Fly has laid off “over 30 people”.
“We understand that this decision impacts each of you, and we want to express our gratitude for your hard work, dedication, and contributions thus far,” reads an email from People Can Fly’s Adam Alker to those laid off. “To those individuals transitioning out of the studio due to these changes, we extend our sincere appreciation for the skills and expertise you brought to the team. We will keep our fingers crossed for your next steps in game dev and offer all our support.”
The news comes as Microsoft has confirmed it’s just laid off 1,900 staff from its Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard business units.
More than an estimated 12,000 layoffs have rocked the gaming industry over the last year and a half; close to 6,000 have come in January 2024 alone. Other impacted developers and publishers include Riot Games, Thunderful, Embracer and Gearbox, Twitch (again), Unity, Codemasters, 505 Games’ Digital Bros, Amazon, Bungie, Media Molecule, Ubisoft, Aussie studio League of Geeks, Versus Evil and many more.
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