HR / Company news

The German studio Fishlabs announced on LinkedIn that it is forced to part ways with some employees

Developer Fishlabs in Germany has revealed plans to reduce its workforce, affecting both its development and support teams

Funcom has announced another restructuring. The reason for this decision is the desire to focus on supporting and developing only two games — Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles

Ubisoft has decided not to limit its actions to the potential closure of RedLynx and layoffs at Ubisoft Singapore. It has become known that the company also intends to significantly reduce the staff of its German studios

Funcom, a developer based in Norway, has initiated a restructuring process after deciding to concentrate exclusively on live operations for Conan Exiles and Dune: Awakening. The number of employees impacted remains unspecified. Rui Casais, who has served as CEO for 11 years and guided the company through its 2020 acquisition by Tencent, is set to depart by the end of the year. Scott Junior, the current Chief Product Officer, will take over as CEO.

The Croatian studio Gamepires, primarily known for the survival game SCUM, is also conducting layoffs. They announced this on social media.

At the end of September, Brazilian authorities temporarily banned online betting in the country. As discovered by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), the decision cost many professionals their jobs

Philip Holt, the head of Undead Labs, is "reluctant to share" the number of employees the studio lost after becoming independent from Xbox

In 2020, veterans from Respawn Entertainment and Infinity Ward opened the studio Gravity Well. Six years later, the team faced the threat of closure.

Gravity Well, an independent gaming studio established by former members of Respawn Entertainment, has dismissed most of its staff following a loss of financial backing

Yellow Brick Games is yet another gaming studio that has decided to reduce its staff. Journalist Chris Kerr has drawn attention to the layoffs there

In mid-August, Supermassive Games announced mass layoffs, which were set to see 75 people leave the studio. It appears that the layoff process has now concluded

The studio behind the Hellblade franchise has started losing staff ahead of its potential closure. This is being widely reported by its employees on LinkedIn.

Ninja Theory has initiated employee layoffs

An anxious atmosphere prevails at The Coalition. This was reported by Eurogamer, which spoke with employees of the studio.

Enad Global 7, the parent company of the developers, announced that Cold Iron Studios has been hit by a wave of layoffs.

Joe Brammer, CEO of Bulkhead, the company behind Wardogs, has provided further explanation regarding his comments on crunch.

Mass layoffs are one of the most painful topics in the modern game development industry. They have been occurring regularly in gaming companies around the world for the past four years. As Tim Schafer, the CEO of Double Fine Productions, admitted in an interview with BBC News, the current situation has made him doubt whether he truly understands the economics of games.

Following its integration into Activision, the Age of Empires developer, World's Edge, has experienced layoffs impacting "just under half" of its workforce.

Undead Labs has declared its independence, revealing that it is now functioning as an "employee-owned game development studio."

Creative director of World's Edge, Adam Isgreen, spoke about this on the ResetEra forum. He also lost his job.

In the summer, as part of the restructuring of its gaming division, Microsoft announced plans to sell Undead Labs. The deal was finalized in September. The studio was bought out by its own management, but not without casualties.

Microsoft Corporation has indeed announced new restructuring in its gaming division, which will affect nearly three hundred employees.

The cuts have reached the French publisher Dear Villagers too

UPDATE: Microsoft has announced a reduction of 268 positions as part of a comprehensive restructuring of its internal studios, which includes plans to shut down Ninja Theory.

Microsoft's gaming division is preparing to carry out another round of layoffs, according to The Information, which cites its sources. The publication reports that it will take place as soon as this week

While Western game developers and publishers are regularly conducting layoffs, companies from Japan are hardly reducing their staff. According to Amir Satvat, a former director of game business development at Tencent, this is due to the distinctive way of doing business in the country.

Heart Machine, the developer behind Hyper Light Drifter, faces potential closure following the collapse of a publishing agreement

Not only does Build a Rocket Boy have problems. The studio Heart Machine was also forced to carry out major layoffs and now finds itself in a rather precarious situation.

Several employees from the studio Build a Rocket Boy, which developed the unsuccessful game MindsEye, posted on social media about another round of layoffs in their team

At King, a scandal related to working conditions is ongoing

Around 1,900 Blizzard Entertainment employees approved their first union contract after two years of negotiations with Microsoft, according to the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The agreement covers all Blizzard union groups, including the Overwatch, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Platform & Technology, and Quality Assurance teams.

A timely topic considering the situation surrounding Kojima Productions

Swedish company Star Stable Entertainment has initiated a restructuring. As part of this process, it has made significant layoffs.

Sony and Microsoft have submitted motions to dismiss class action lawsuits alleging they failed to transfer tariff refunds to consumers.

Details have emerged regarding the progress of work on the DLC called Revelations for Doom: The Dark Ages. The team underwent significant crunch to release the game on time and with the appropriate quality. On the eve of the release, it was downsized

Reports indicate that Schell Games, known for co-developing Among Us 3D and creating the I Expect You to Die series, has recently reduced its workforce through layoffs.

Starbreeze reported its financial results for the first half of 2026. The company announced a significant drop in revenue, yet remains optimistic.

Raze and Rebuild Studio calls itself a cooperative of developers that wants to "revive the gaming industry from the ashes"

In recent years, Bethesda Game Studios, along with other gaming teams at Microsoft, has experienced several rounds of mass layoffs. However, the atmosphere used to be much calmer, claims the studio's senior 3D artist, Alex Nguyen.

CD PROJEKT RED has once again implemented layoffs in the team working on Project Sirius, a multiplayer game set in The Witcher universe. A total of 18 people have left the project.

Update: August 12, 7:15 PM: CD Projekt has confirmed that 18 developers formerly involved in Project Sirius have been either laid off or "invited" to seek redeployment opportunities

The Swedish publisher and mobile game developer G5 Entertainment released its financial report for the second quarter of 2026. The period was not very favorable for the company, marked by a decline in revenues and mass layoffs. However, there were also some positive aspects

The studio behind Until Dawn, The Quarry, and The Dark Pictures Anthology has announced upcoming layoffs. Supermassive Games plans to reduce its workforce by up to 75 people

Supermassive Games has revealed a third series of layoffs within a three-year span, with as many as 75 jobs potentially affected

In the middle of the summer, Ubisoft conducted mass layoffs at its Barcelona division. It has now come to light that its former employees didn't remain idle and have launched their own independent studio

A charity bundle on Itch.io aimed at assisting industry workers impacted by layoffs in the United States and Canada is nearing its $200,000 fundraising target

A wave of layoffs in the gaming industry has reached the studio That's No Moon

Halo Studios recently faced staff reductions. This information comes from Insider Gaming, referencing posts by former studio employees on LinkedIn

King rejected the proposal from the Unionen and Sveriges Ingenjörer unions to sign what is known as a "collective agreement" with employees working at its Swedish branch. Negotiations between the parties lasted for over a year