The developer of new free-to-play shooter Spectre Divide just laid off 13 employees, says it was necessary 'to support Spectre and its community for the long term'

GamesFPSSpectre DivideThe developer of new free-to-play shooter Spectre Divide just laid off 13 employees, says it was necessary ‘to support Spectre and its community for the long term’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Mountaintop Studios)

Spectre Divide promo image - close-up of a man in a mohawk staring down the sights of a rifle

Spectre Dividedeveloper Mountaintop Studios has confirmed the layoff of 13 employees, saying the move was necessary to ensure the long-term future of the game and its community.

A Mountaintop representative confirmed the statement in an email to PC Gamer. The representative added that following the layoffs, the studio has “more than 70 full-time folks working on making the game better with every update.”

Spectre Divide, a free-to-play 3v3 tactical shooter where each player controls two characters, only launched a few weeks ago, on September 3. Staff writer and digital gunfight enthusiast Morgan Parkliked it quite a bit, saying after a pre-release preview session that he “can’t stop thinking about when I’ll get to play it next.” The actual launch hit a bit of a bump with someeye-popping gun skin prices(which werelowered, slightly, in short order), and along with the traditional launch-day server woes that helped spark a flood of negative reviews onSteamthat are still reflected in the “mixed” user rating.

On the other hand, Spectre Divide seems to be doing reasonably well for itself, withconcurrent player countsconsistently holding in the mid-thousands. That’s not a runaway hit but it’s something to start with, at least—the $40 Concord attracted so few players that itonly lasted a couple weeks.

Unfortunately, these cuts are just the latest in a game industry decimation that’s been underway sincethe beginning of 2023: On top of the Mountaintop layoffs, September has seen people put out of work atAirship Syndicate,Evening Star,Microsoft,Midnight Society,Lost Boys Interactive,Ballistic Moon, andRocksteady. And there’s still a week to go.

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