Heart Machine has executed a second round of staff layoffs this month, just two weeks ahead of its scheduled launch

The Los Angeles-based Heart Machine studio is undergoing another series of layoffs, marking what appears to be the second reduction in staff within the same month.

According to Game Developer, although there has been no formal announcement from the company, several employees have disclosed their dismissals on social networks, occurring less than two weeks before the release of the studio's game, Possessor(s), through Devolver Digital.

No fewer than four team members have indicated their termination, including a senior 3D animator who mentioned, "my time at Heart Machine has sadly come to a rather abrupt end. I was there for almost six years."

Yiyi, previously a part of Heart Machine's community and PR group, shared, "Heart Machine has just laid off a bunch more people, effective immediately. By the time Possessor(s) comes out on November 11, I don't know if anyone who worked on the game will even be at the company anymore. That's game dev."

Back in November 2024, the studio reduced a portion of its workforce during the production of Hyper Light Breaker. Again, on October 10, Heart Machine acknowledged further layoffs, stating it had "parted ways with a number of talented team members" while winding down work on the early access iteration of Hyper Light Breaker.

Reports indicate that as many as 4400 developers have been let go in 2025. Given the reluctance of many companies to divulge figures, the actual total may be much higher. This comes on top of approximately 15,000 job losses in 2024 and 10,500 in 2023.