It’s time for a look at what’s been happening on the business side of the gaming industry this week, and sadly, the ongoing wave of layoffs and studio closures has continued.
Some studios have closed down, while others have seen staff departures or changes in personnel. It’s been a busy week for the industry, so let’s take a look at what’s been going on!
Square Enix staffers hit by layoffs
Reports emerged this week that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth publisher Square Enix will lay off a number of employees across its publishing and IT departments, as well as the Square Enix Collective indie label, which is responsible for PowerWash Simulator (among other games).
The news came in the same week that the studio declared a 70% drop in profits on a year-over-year basis, with a large part of that loss coming as part of a pipeline shakeup involving multiple cancellations.
The company also rebranded its Creative Business Unit III studio this week, renaming it to Creative Studio III. It’s a much catchier name!
More layoffs at Palia developer Singularity 6
After laying off “around 35 percent” of its staff earlier this year, Palia studio Singularity 6 has once again been hit by the layoff wave.
The studio told Game Developer this week that 36 staff members, or around 40% of its remaining staff, have been laid off in order to help the studio navigate a “tough economic period”.
Conan Chop Chop dev Mighty Kingdom cuts almost 30% of staff
Mighty Kingdom, the studio responsible for games like Conan Chop Chop and Star Trek Lower Decks: The Badgey Directive, also announced layoffs this week.
The company said on X (formerly Twitter) that a “restructuring” has resulted in “a 28% reduction in our workforce”, a decision the studio says it made with a heavy heart.
Dauntless and Fae Farm studio Phoenix Labs gets gutted
Phoenix Labs, the studio responsible for the Monster Hunter-esque Dauntless and the cozy farming sim Fae Farm, has been hit hard by layoffs and restructuring as well.
Per ex-UX lead Noah Watkins, Phoenix Labs has laid off all staff currently working on unreleased projects and has canceled those projects too. Dev Shaan Joshi corroborates this info.
Furthermore, principal engineer Kris Morness reveals that Phoenix Labs was bought up by blockchain company Forte “over a year ago”, and that today’s cancellations and layoffs come from Forte.
Drag Her! is canceled and its dev team is no more
Fighting Chance Games, developer of drag queen fighting game Drag Her!, announced this week that the project has been canceled and the studio has been shut down.
According to Fighting Chance, a “groundswell of audience support”, as well as a fully-funded Kickstarter campaign and a number of other things in Drag Her!‘s favor, haven’t resulted in a publishing deal.
However, a free version of Drag Her!, which includes three queens, a local versus mode, and online multiplayer, is available right now on Steam.
Gameloft closes down its Cluj-Napoca, Romania branch
Disney Dreamlight Valley developer Gameloft revealed this week that it will close down its Cluj-Napoca branch, leaving over 130 employees jobless.
The company confirmed this news in a statement given to Romanian news writer Doru Supeala, who also speculates that the studio’s Bucharest office could be in trouble as well.
Unity Create head Marc Whitten resigns
Marc Whitten, the head of Unity Create (the department that heads up Unity’s engine and editor segments), is quitting at the start of June.
That’s according to an SEC filing (thanks, Game Developer), which also confirms Whitten will remain at Unity until December 31st. Unlike former CEO John Riccitello, Whitten did not resign following Unity’s runtime fee controversy last year.
IO Interactive gets a new CTO
This week, IO Interactive, best known for the Hitman series and its upcoming James Bond game, hired a new chief technology officer.
Ulas Karademir joins the company from RealityOS, but he’s also worked at Unity and, uh, IO Interactive, where he was an employee between 2007 and 2014.
Starbreeze reports a loss for Q1, appoints a new interim CEO
Payday developer Starbreeze has reported a 21 million SEK (roughly $2 million) loss for the first quarter of 2024, according to an interim report published earlier this week.
The studio has also appointed a new interim CEO in the form of Mats Juhl, who replaces previous interim CEO Jürgen Goeldner following the departure of former CEO Tobias Sjögren earlier this year.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink developer Cygames opens a new branch
It’s not all doom and gloom in the industry this week, however. Cygames, whose name you might know from Granblue Fantasy: Relink and Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, has opened a new branch.
The studio’s new Singapore arm follows the establishment of branches in the US and Europe last year. We’ll have to wait and see what Cygames Singapore has in store.
That’s all for our roundup of gaming business news this week! As ever, don’t hesitate to let us know if we’ve missed something big.
