Halo Studio Certain Affinity Hit With Layoffs

29.03.2024 - 12:29 / gamerant.com / Daniel Morris

Halo support studio Certain Affinity has announced that it is laying off staff for the first time in its 17-year history. While Certain Affinity has also worked on the Call of Duty and World of Tanks franchises, in recent years, it has been notable for its contributions to Halo, working alongside 343 Industries.

It's an extremely tough period for the games industry at the moment. It seems as though every day, more studios lay off sizable portions of their workforces, leaving the industry in a sorry state of affairs. Just recently, Gearbox was hit with layoffs just hours after Take-Two acquired the company from Embracer, with official numbers on the redundancies yet to be revealed. It feels nonstop at the moment, with the Certain Affinity news coming as just the latest in a string of announcements that have plagued the industry of late. Unfortunately, given the rate at which these layoffs are coming, these Certain Affinity layoffs are unlikely to be the last within the industry in the near future.

CEO of Certain Affinity, Max Hoberman, confirmed the layoffs in a statement on the studio's website. In the statement, Hoberman laid out his disappointment at having to lay off 25 employees in total for the first time in the developer's 17-year history. According to Hoberman, the move comes as a result of «an industry-wide slow down in the funding of new lead and co-development projects and the reluctance of third party investors to fund games or game companies.» He also confirmed that the affected staff are being supported with severance pay and a continuation of benefits. It's a devastating piece of news for the studio, which has supported many of the best Halo games over the years.

A few months back, it was rumored that a new Halo game had been canceled, with Certain Affinity at the helm. The whispers at the time suggested that the title had been in development for four years, which would be a sizable investment with no return. Although the existence of the game remains a mere rumor, if it were to be canceled, that would be devastating for the studio, especially if other work around the industry had dried up.

It's unclear what the future holds for Certain Affinity. While Halo Infinite continues to receive frequent updates, it's unclear how much the support studio continues to be involved in this regard. Hopefully, Certain Affinity can secure a new project, whether that be lead or co-development, to ensure that this round of layoffs is the only one going forward.