During February-March, Glera Games laid off at least 30 people. The company may have lost another 100 employees over the previous two years

The development studio Glera Games is experiencing a series of layoffs. Sources familiar with the situation told App2Top that just in the last two months, the company has parted ways with several dozen employees. In some cases, unethically.

In preparing this report, the editorial staff spoke with several employees. Some agreed to discuss what is happening at the company on the condition of anonymity. For simplicity, we will call them source "A," source "B," and source "C."

Mahjong Treasure

Layoffs in 2025

There is little public detail about the recent layoffs, although every day more LinkedIn profiles of employees seeking work are being published. At the time of publishing this investigation, there were 30 such listings.

Last week, source "A" mentioned in a conversation with us that there are even more. Source "B" confirmed that similar processes are indeed happening within the company, at least affecting the Lithuania office (meanwhile, according to LinkedIn, employees from the Belarus studio and remote specialists are also seeking jobs).

This is a continuation of the wave of layoffs that started at Glera Games in the first half of February. At that time, the editorial staff noticed the situation and discovered that about 10 employees simultaneously entered the job market.

In February, the studio's management partially confirmed the layoffs. "We had to part ways with some of the team," a Glera Games representative stated in a comment to App2Top. They explained it was due to the "reduction in development of Mahjong Treasure."

According to source "C," it isn’t just about "reduction." From our conversation, it seems the game might be shut down (at least, its support will stop or minimize), and the entire team managing it is now being laid off.

For reference, Mahjong Treasure has long been the studio's key project. According to AppMagic, since 2016, it has earned the studio over $90 million through mobile IAP alone. At its peak, its revenue reached $2.2 million monthly, dropping to $200 thousand a month now.

Mahjong Treasure

In a February talk with the editorial staff, Glera Games emphasized that "with some [specialists], partnerships conclude as part of normal processes — the team evolves to meet new tasks and product priorities."

This comment led us to hypothesize a shift in focus toward another mobile game by the studio — Road Trip. Based on open data, most of the team's marketing efforts have been targeting this game since November 2023. Its revenue for January 2025 alone was a million dollars.

However, source "C," closely acquainted with the situation, refuted this hypothesis. He stated that despite existing indicators, management recently laid off half of Road Trip's content team. Meanwhile, a significant portion of the remaining specialists was reassigned to develop a new title.

Road Trip and an External Project

Source "C" explains the partial layoff of the Road Trip team due to dissatisfaction with the game from producers. They believed its metrics were growing very slowly. This was compounded by envy towards the success of Royal Match, a mobile box office hit from Turkish Dream Games.

A brief aside about Road Trip is necessary here. It is a blend of two genres — expedition and merge-2. In the former, players travel with the main character across numerous locations, while in the latter, they gather items needed to solve quests.

Road Trip

According to our interlocutor, management observed that players spent much time in the expedition-related parts of the game — the journey, a content-rich mode. As for the merge mechanics, players found it less appealing.

Producers began trying to modify the game to have users spend more time in the merge component. They kept in mind the example of Royal Match, which lacks elaborate narratives.

These experiments led to user dropout, which prompted management to cut expenses, primarily impacting the department responsible for expeditions where players spent the most time.

As we understand from the source, simultaneously, a new product's development began, based on one of Road Trip's modes, closely linked with merge mechanics. This mode wasn't popular, so employees believe the new project might not succeed.

Layoffs in 2023-2024

The current series of layoffs is by far not the first in recent times. Source "A" admitted that over the last two years, the company has constantly experienced reductions of varying scales. Over 2023-2024, more than 100 people could have lost their jobs.

The situation is unique in that until recently, despite the layoffs, the company continued actively hiring. This allowed its numbers to grow year after year.

However, that’s not the case anymore. Despite significant reductions, only two job openings are posted on the Glera Games website.

Sources attribute this high turnover to management's incompetence: "Signs of chaotic management are evident." For instance, departments may be laid off, only to later realize their expertise is critical for the team.

Source "A" cites chaotic management examples where several employees were hired for similar positions within a single project, fostering competition. Naturally, some of them would be let go after some time.

A more telling situation comes from source "C." In February, amid showing excellent results, one team hoped for a salary raise. Instead, the manager was handed a list of people to dismiss.

"It’s evident management decisions on cuts weren't based on team results or individual performance. There were cases where a 'junior' was retained, but a 'senior' with significantly more expertise was let go."

Unethical Approach to Layoffs

Layoffs and mismanagement in the gaming industry, unfortunately, are widespread issues. Against this backdrop, the sources' statements about unethical employer behavior during contract terminations are more alarming.

After the partial relocation of the company from Belarus, most employees were shifted to contracts that, as App2Top was told, "do not provide significant compensations or guarantees."

According to source "A," this allowed the company to dismiss employees with little notice and limit severance to minimal payouts (sometimes equivalent to one month's salary) without compensating for leave and time off.

Reasons for Lack of Publicity

Despite the ongoing stream of layoffs and contentious terminations, the situation hasn't received much public attention until recently. One of our sources believes this hasn't happened for the following reasons:

Layoffs occur in small waves;
The process is generally quick, taking just a few minutes;
Fired employees are swiftly cut off from work chats;
Management, through middle managers, requests departing employees not discuss the situation;
Employees are loyal to their teams and managers and don't wish to harm them.

We would add that within the Russian-speaking gaming industry, employees generally fear openly speaking about issues, worrying about future job search difficulties, particularly in the context of relocation, placing them in a dependent position on their employer.

What’s Next?

"Team managers explicitly say another wave of cuts will occur in the fall, as the second metrics review by producers will happen over the summer," source "C" notes with sadness.

"After over a year of ongoing layoffs, originally unnoticed, the remaining employees in the company are under constant stress," source "A" shares about the company's condition.

Moreover, according to him, many feel unprotected, understanding that regardless of their personal achievements, professional skills, and tenure at the company, they might be let go overnight.