Hot Wheels Developers: Rift Rally Faced Massive Layoffs

Velan Studios, known for the AR racing game Hot Wheels: Rift Rally and the now-closed multiplayer action game Knockout City, has laid off some of its staff. This is stated in the publications of former studio employees on social networks.

Hot Wheels: Rift Rally

In particular, the dismissals were announced by senior game designer Amanda Lynn and senior animator Nate Horsfall. According to Horsfall, the studio had to make cuts after a certain publisher refused to work on a major joint project in early March. The animator did not say what kind of publisher and project it was due to a non-disclosure agreement.

According to the Game Industry Layoffs portal, the studio has parted ways with 45 employees in total. Judging by Velan Studios' LinkedIn profile, this is about a third of its staff.

Velan Studios has not publicly commented on the reports of layoffs.

Velan Studios is one of the many gaming companies that have carried out layoffs in recent months. According to Game Industry Layoffs estimates, more than 8,000 people have been laid off in the industry since the beginning of the year. The largest layoffs took place in the gaming division of Microsoft (1,900 people), Unity (1,800 people), Sony (900 people), Electronic Arts (670 people) and Riot Games (530 people).