Here’s a tiny window into what it’s like for a smaller developer to have a game they’re working on blow up. Arrowhead Game Studios’ bug-squashing third-person shooter Helldivers 2 launched simultaneously on PC and PlayStation 5 on Thursday, and it’s a hit, breaking into the top 10 most played games on Steam and becoming PlayStation’s biggest Steam launch to date.
People Can Fly and Black Forest Games hit by layoffs, according to sources and leaked emails
25.01.2024 - 18:19 / rockpapershotgun.com
Room for another mass layoff post, before we end the day? This one is actually two separate stories but in a bid to conserve resources and make our frontpage slightly less depressing to read, I am going to roll them together. Black Forest Games, the Embracer-owned creators of the Destroy All Humans! Remake, are reportedly cutting 50% of their workforce - around 50-60 people. Outriders developers People Can Fly, meanwhile, have laid off 30 developers who were working on an unannounced Square Enix game.
Both of those reports are from Kotaku, which has decided to put all this year's layoffs on a single feed - a truly grisly cousin of our own The Maw. According to one of the site's sources, Black Forest Games announced the job losses to staff yesterday. It's not clear who exactly is leaving, but the studio's creative directors and most "if not all" of its managers are expected to survive the cuts, with more details following next week. Embracer acquired Black Forest by way of operating group THQ Nordic in 2017. The studio are currently working on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin.
The cuts presumably form part of Embracer's on-going "restructuring" from last year, as the Swedish conglomerate strive to reduce their debts after a seemingly endless run of studio acquisitions over the past few years. Embracer are also reportedly taking the axe to ELEX and Gothic developers Piranha Bytes, though Piranha have valiantly asked fans not to "write us off" just yet.
As for People Can Fly, Kotaku has gotten hold of an internal email from development director Adam Alker in which he says that cuts are necessary due to budget limitations and the shrinking scope of the aforesaid Square Enix game, Project Gemini, which will now be shorter than planned with a smaller roster of enemies. Apart from the 30 people who are being laid off, 20 other members of the Gemini team have reportedly been relocated to other projects within the studio.
"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," Alker wrote in the leaked mail. "We will keep our fingers crossed for your next steps in game dev and offer all our support." I hope "all our support" comes with decent severance.
People Can Fly's other projects include - or at least, have included - Project Maverick, announced last June and funded by Microsoft to the tune of $30-50 million. According to leaked emails, Microsoft have just laid off about 1900 people across Xbox and Activision-Blizzard in the name of growth, shortly after becoming a three trillion dollar company. I would not be wholly surprised if the cost-cutting there extended to
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gamerant.com
25.01.2024 / 20:09
Embracer Planning for More Layoffs
Black Forest Games, a German video game developer subsidiary of THQ Nordic, which Embracer Group owns, is reportedly planning to lay off around 50% of its employees. Last December, two Danish developers owned by Embracer Group, 3D Realms and Slipgate Ironworks, announced that over half of their staff would have their roles eliminated. With that announcement, around 1000 people were laid off by Embracer in the second half of 2023. Now, Black Forest Games is seemingly the latest developer to be affected.
techradar.com
25.01.2024 / 18:23
Outriders developer People Can Fly confirms staff layoffs, saying it’s ‘an unfortunate situation’
Polish developer People Can Fly, which is arguably best known for making the third-person co-op shooter Outridersand first-person-shooter Bulletstorm, has confirmed that it’s laid off a number of its staff. A spokesperson described the situation as “unfortunate.”
wccftech.com
25.01.2024 / 15:37
AMD FSR 3 Added to UE5 MMORPG Mortal Online 2; It’s the 11th Game to Support the Technique
The latest game to introduce AMD FSR 3 support is Mortal Online 2, the Unreal Engine 5 first-person sandbox MMORPG developed by Swedish studio Star Vault.
gamingbolt.com
25.01.2024 / 11:31
People Can Fly is Reportedly Laying off Over 30 People Due to Square Enix Project’s Shrinking Scope
Outriders and Bulletstorm developer People Can Fly has joined the long list of developers and companies in the games industry that have been hit with layoffs, less than a month into 2024. As per a report by Kotaku, the studio has laid off over 30 people.
wccftech.com
25.01.2024 / 10:21
People Can Fly Removes 30 Developers from Unannounced Square Enix Game ‘Project Gemini’ to Shrink Scope
Game developer People Can Fly has laid off around thirty developers from an unannounced Square Enix game codenamed Project Gemini. The news was broken yesterday by Kotaku, which obtained an email sent by Development Director Adam Alker to his fellow employees. Alker chalked the layoffs to budget limitations and a decision to shrink the game's scope.
pcgamesinsider.biz
25.01.2024 / 09:25
People Can Fly cuts 30 jobs
Polish developer People Can Fly is laying off more than 30 members of staff.
destructoid.com
25.01.2024 / 08:49
Outriders developer People Can Fly confirms layoffs
This year has already gotten off to a rocky start for developers who are still experiencing the wave of layoffs that plagued 2023.
eurogamer.net
24.01.2024 / 23:53
Outriders developer People Can Fly reportedly lays off "over 30" employees
People Can Fly, the developer behind the likes of Outriders and Bulletstorm, has reportedly laid off «over 30 people» working on a currently unannounced game — codenamed Project Gemini — that's set to be published by Square Enix.
videogameschronicle.com
24.01.2024 / 21:57
People Can Fly reportedly cuts 30 devs as scope of Square Enix game shrinks
People Can Fly has reportedly laid off over 30 developers working on an unannounced Square Enix game.
wccftech.com
24.01.2024 / 14:29
Apple Working on iOS 17.4 Update For iPhone Which Could Bring The Biggest Change The App Store Has Ever Received
Apple plans to introduce significant changes to the iOS App Store, allowing users to download apps from third-party sources. The company is reaching a deadline imposed by the EU under the Digital Markets Act, which requires the company to allow the installation of apps from outside the App Store. The company has until March 6 to implement the app sideloading, and iOS 17.4 appears to be the update that will bring the necessary changes.
destructoid.com
23.01.2024 / 02:29
Riot Games lays off 530 employees and sunsets Riot Forge
We’re not even a month through 2024 and it’s looking to be a rough year for the games industry. Massive developer and publisher Riot Games, home to League of Legends and Valorant, announced today it has laid off 530 employees or roughly 11% of its workforce. Legends of Runetterra, Riot’s competitor to Hearthstone, is also seeing a reduction in team size and will shift focus to its Path of Champions PvE game mode. Riot Forge, a division of Riot Games that focuses on teaming up with established developers and creating unique single-player experiences in the Runterra universe, will also be sunset.