Gaming IndustryMore than 300 game developers lost their jobs in one day, just three weeks before ChristmasWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Gaming IndustryMore than 300 game developers lost their jobs in one day, just three weeks before ChristmasWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Tripwire)
It’s another miserable day for the videogame industry, as the past 24 hours have seen hundreds of people put out of work atUbisoft, Torn Banner, and Sweet Bandits.
In terms of raw numbers, the Ubisoft layoffs are the deepest cuts. The decision toend developmentof the free-to-play shooter XDefiant, coming less than three months after executive producer Mark Rubin insisted “the game isabsolutely not dying,” means the closure of Ubisoft’s San Francisco and Osaka studios (although Ubisoft’s San Francisco business office remains open), and a “ramp down” of the company’s studio in Sydney. A total of 277 people are expected to lose their jobs: 143 from the San Francisco studio, and another 134 “likely to depart” from Osaka and Sydney.
Sweet Bandits, the developer of vintage spycraft extraction shooterDeceive Inc, has closed outright. “There is no easy way to say this: The Sweet Bandits team is no more,” the studio announced in a message on theDeceive Inc forums. “After a long and difficult road of trying to get Deceive inc. in a state where it could thrive, we have reached the breaking point for the studio, unable to continue this adventure with you.”
It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce the closure of Sweet Bandits.Please read more information below.https://t.co/tVJF2N2rXsDecember 3, 2024
It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce the closure of Sweet Bandits.Please read more information below.https://t.co/tVJF2N2rXsDecember 3, 2024
Torn Banner Studios, best known as the developer of the Chivalry games, also made “the very difficult decision to undergo a restructure and reduce some of our talented workforce,” CEO Steve Piggot said in a message posted toLinkedIn. Piggot didn’t say how many people were let go, but senior 3D artist Andrew Waddingham said “many” employees were put out of work, while character artist Matheus Paiva described it as a “mass layoff.” Torn Banner’s website says it had more than 150 employees prior to the layoffs.
While Chivalry 2 was a success, it never put up massive player numbers, and received its final update in May 2024. No More Room in Hell 2, Torn Banner’s current project, has struggled: Its early access launch in October was plagued withbugs and server problems, and theaverage concurrent player countsagged to just a few hundred almost immediately. Piggot said the studio remains “fully committed” to a 1.0 launch in 2025.
(Image credit: Torn Banner Studios)
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