Embracer Group’s Lost Boys Interactive Has Laid off “a Sizeable Portion” of its Workforce

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a labyritnhine Metroidvania with a sprawling map crammed with upgrades like Soma Petals that expand your health bar, Damascus Ingots, those pesky little silver rectangles that are used to give your attacks more power, and many other collectibles that make your life easier as you explore the mysterious ancient kingdom filled with timey-wimey mystery.

Reikon Games, the studio behind 2017 action game Ruiner, has reportedly laid off around 80% of its staff.

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Earlier today, Riot Games announced that it is eliminating 530 roles globally, which make up about 11 percent of its workforce. The company publicly delivered this devastating news in two separate posts — one for players, and another for «Rioters,» with the latter detailing severance package and some other benefits to treat the dismissed employees «with respect and grace.»

Another developer has joined the increasingly long list of companies in the games industry that have companies that have initiated layoffs in the early weeks of 2024, continuing the brutal waves of job cuts that devastated the industry the entirety of last year.

Behaviour Interactive, the Canadian game developer behind multiplayer survival horror Dead by Daylight, has confirmed that it’s laying off a number of its staff.

Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive has reportedly laid off 45 people, Kotaku has learned. The publication says those with knowledge of the situation at the studio said the layoffs only affected people at Behaviour's Montreal, Canada studio, with those 45 affected let go last week, between January 9 and 11. 

Thunderful Group, a Swedish video game holding company that owns a number of game publishers and developers as well as gaming and toy distribution companies, has announced that it plans to lay off around 20% of its staff as it restructures its operations. 

2023 was sadly the year that saw thousands of jobs in the games industry being cut due to industry-wide layoffs, and unfortunately, that’s continued in the early days of 2024 as well. The latest to join that list is Thunderful Group, the company that publishes and develops the SteamWorld series and owns the likes of Image and Form Games, Rising Star Games, Zoink, Coatsink, Jumpship, and Headup Games.

Thunderful Group has announced a restructuring programme to decrease costs, which will include both "significant staff reductions" and potential divestments, the company said.

Amazon-owned Twitch is preparing to lay off 35 percent of its employees or a little over 500 people. The news was first reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday and confirmed a day later by Twitchin a blog post signed by CEO Dan Clancy. Employees will learn today via email whether they are or aren't losing their jobs.

Lost Boys Interactive has laid off a “sizable” portion of its team, it’s been confirmed, with the Gearbox-owned studio the latest to be hit by the wide reaching restructuring programme that Embracer Group is enacting across its array of businesses.