Industry closures and downsizing thread.

[dyne]

It’s been long enough, I’m finally starting it. Sadly the way this is going it’ll probably get updated frequently. Could somebody sticky it?

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...ver-100-people

Bandai Namco Studios has reportedly reduced its staff by more than 100 people within the last year, as reported by Automaton.

The studio, known for Switch games such as New Pokémon Snap, Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun!, and the upcoming Pac-Man title Shadow Labyrinth, had stated in a company overview on 1st April 2024 that its workforce stood at a total of 1,294 employees, however the Japan Pension Service database has this at 1,177 as of 4th February 2025.

This news comes after reports in 2024 that Bandai Namco had cancelled a number of projects, including one commissioned by Nintendo.
According to the initial article from Bloomberg, the company had allegedly used 'oidashibeya' – expulsion rooms – to pressure 200 employees into voluntary resignation. Effectively, they would be provided with meaningless work in an effort to demotivate them. Many employees would instead use this time to look for work elsewhere.

Although this is supposedly a traditional Japanese approach to reducing staff numbers, Bandai Namco denied that this was the case. It remains to be seen, then, whether the 100+ employees who have now left had done so "willingly", or were let go with severance.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...firms-lay-offs

Iron Galaxy, a studio known for its work on titles such as Metroid Prime Remastered, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Diablo III on Switch, has confirmed that it has laid off 66 development and support staff.

Confirmed via a post on LinkedIn (thanks, GamesIndustry), the studio said that the decision was made to "enable our long-term survival". Despite this loss, the statement also clarifies that the team will "remain intact to work with the best companies in the world on the most beloved player experiences".

For now, Iron Galaxy's primary focus will be on the teammates that have sadly been let go, pledging to support them in their search for new roles elsewhere.
Iron Galaxy was confirmed to have assisted on the development of Metroid Prime Remastered alongside original creator Retro Studios. In addition, the game received support from the following teams: Airship Images Limited, Atomhawk Design, CGBot, Gamesim Inc, Liquid Development, Original Force LTD, Shanghai Mineloader Digital Technology, and Zombot Studio.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...-of-the-studio

Developer Phoenix Labs – known for its work on Fae Farm and Dauntless – has announced that it has laid off "the majority of the studio", citing "unfortunate but necessary changes to our operations".

The move follows a previous round of layoffs back in May 2024, during which "about 140" employees were affected. The new statement, posted on LinkedIn, mentions that updates regarding both Fae Farm and Dauntless will be provided in the coming weeks, but that the current focus is on "supporting those affected through this transition".

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...oyees-affected

After a year plagued by layoffs at studios big and small, Ubisoft has today confirmed that its 'restructuring' efforts are continuing into 2025, with a further 185 employees laid off across the company's European studios.

As reported by VGC, the layoffs come as a product of "restructurings" at Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm and Ubisoft Reflections, and the complete closure of UK-based studio Ubisoft Leamington — the team formally known as FreeStyleGames responsible for the DJ Hero series.

In a statement released to VGC, an Ubisoft spokesperson claimed that the job losses come "As part of our ongoing efforts to prioritise projects and reduce costs that ensure long-term stability at Ubisoft". The statement clarifies that the decision “should impact 185 employees overall", with the company noting, "We are deeply grateful for their contributions and are committed to supporting them through this transition”.

This comes a little over a month after the company closed two studios in San Francisco and Japan, and was reportedly "ramping down" its production team in Sydney, Australia.

Last year, Ubisoft released the likes of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Skull & Bones and Star Wars Outlaws, all of which were claimed to have fallen short of the company's targets. With a potential buyout looming, the studio's future seems to hinge on Assassin's Creed Shadows, set to launch on Xbox and PlayStation this March.

[NARMAK]

Negativity thread. Power me up

On a real though. Feel a bit sorry for people whose lives are affected with loans, mortgages and other bills to pay being left out to dry.

[Derb]

Originally Posted by NARMAK

Negativity thread. Power me up

On a real though. Feel a bit sorry for people whose lives are affected with loans, mortgages and other bills to pay being left out to dry.

Why pay hundreds of salaries when you only need a handful of AI agents to do your mundane game coding tasks.

[RocShemp]

I posted this in another forum.

I must admit that I never considered how much outsourcing there must be in game development, and how those folks are getting affected too.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=6DZfDLfVv1M

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by Derb

Why pay hundreds of salaries when you only need a handful of AI agents to do your mundane game coding tasks.

This reminds me of when Suckerberg said Meta were replacing all their mid level engineers with AI and like a week or so later Deepseek released and they've gone "We've got all our engineers trying to figure out how they did it". Honestly, most executives are uneducated clowns. They see AI as a wholesale way to replace people in the process permanently and i feel like game developers and by extension similar industry roles are now becoming like fast food workers. They'll become contract workers or free lancers on Fiverr for the lpwest bid price.

Basically they think there's so many people to hre and fire, i don't think they care either about doing these things.

[heyadol]

Crytek is laying off ~15% of their workforce.

https://x.com/Crytek/status/1889623029723885913

They also note the next Crysis has been put on hold (I may have missed that news a few months ago) to focus more on their live service game Hunt: Showdown 1896.

[dyne]

I had no idea a new Crysis was in the works.

[BaronVH]

In my unscientific anecdotal opinion, these subscription services are harming the industry just like how the streaming services are harming Hollywood. I am sure they made Microsoft and Sony plenty of money, but eventually the good developers will take such a hit that the overall services will suffer if they haven’t already. Should have never abandoned physical media.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by BaronVH

In my unscientific anecdotal opinion, these subscription services are harming the industry just like how the streaming services are harming Hollywood. I am sure they made Microsoft and Sony plenty of money, but eventually the good developers will take such a hit that the overall services will suffer if they haven’t already. Should have never abandoned physical media.

If you're referring to Plus and Gamepass you do know the publishers choose to put their games in it right? It's not like SONY and MS just poach games and screw developers. They all sit down and discuss potential earnings versus one guaranteed sum plus free advertisement/demo for the entire subscription base. Developers wouldn't do it if they didn't think it was fair.

[Zivouhr]

On a more positive note, developers who have lost their job should consider using their talents to create their own games studio. No excuses.

As taught in Shadow of the Colossus. When the giants fall, depend on yourself. And while that's getting started, work a regular job to pay the bills.

[Nunab18]

Originally Posted by dyne

If you're referring to Plus and Gamepass you do know the publishers choose to put their games in it right? It's not like SONY and MS just poach games and screw developers. They all sit down and discuss potential earnings versus one guaranteed sum plus free advertisement/demo for the entire subscription base. Developers wouldn't do it if they didn't think it was fair.

Regardless, there is quite the argument ongoing about whether or not Gamepass and similar services are good for the industry. I hear of developers deciding against going to Gamepass all the time. Gamepass has essentially killed Xbox's ability to make actual software sales at this point and I don't believe they are happy with their subscription numbers to Gamepass at the same time

Gamepass is a pretty decent deal for consumers though, as long as you don't care about ownership, and you play enough to make the subscription cost actually worth it... Because I don't think your average person is, most people just play a couple games all year long and could end up getting a better deal just buying the couple games they'll play outright, but... different argument I guess.

[Zivouhr]

I'm relieved smaller developers still offer their games individually to buy, instead of everything being stuck on a subscription service to play video games.

If PS7 went strictly to a subscription service where you don't actually get to keep any games long term unless you're still subscribed (like Netflix which I avoid), then that would not be good. At that point, unless the games were the 10th level stuff, I'd avoid that generation of gaming.

I still go back to old great games I own and replay them in smaller bursts of time (rather than the larger investment of time when first playing them).

[dyne]

https://www.eurogamer.net/half-life-...s-aged-just-52

Didn't know where else to drop this but Viktor Antonov who was the lead art director for Half Life 2 and Dishonored has passed. Absolutely iconic work.

[Deadend45]

*Yawn* This happens every year with the game studios that do contact work.

[dyne]

https://www.eurogamer.net/just-cause...ing-first-game

Sweden-based developer Liquid Swords has today announced an unspecified number of layoffs.

The NetEase-backed studio was formed in 2020 by Christofer Sundberg, whose name you may recognise from Just Cause's Avalanche Studios, which he co-founded.

Liquid Swords is yet to launch its first game, and today announced plans to "reduce its workforce as part of an effort to scale back operations and adapt to current business conditions".

[Zivouhr]

Not good to see these studios just short of folding up and going out of business, which layoffs are a hint of at times. Best to stay small and make smaller games.

Sinking City I think was also made by a small team and that is an epic game.

[Steelmaker]

Some of these studios I've never even heard of before.

Personally I think part of the issue is the industry has been oversaturated with dev studios. We simply have more studios making games than what the market can bear. If you are on PSN or the Nintendo e-shop, you can't keep up with all the crap that gets posted on a weekly basis. I wish Sony and Nintendo did a better job of curating their storefronts to not allow so much shovelware to flood their shops.

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Some of these studios I've never even heard of before.

Personally I think part of the issue is the industry has been oversaturated with dev studios. We simply have more studios making games than what the market can bear. If you are on PSN or the Nintendo e-shop, you can't keep up with all the crap that gets posted on a weekly basis. I wish Sony and Nintendo did a better job of curating their storefronts to not allow so much shovelware to flood their shops.

As a counterpoint you are probably usually only focused on the big names, which in reality aren't the majority of the studios given the total industry size. Just the most prominent. Think of it like sandwich shops. Subways might be the most known but there's thousands more independent ones and small ones you never heard of.

Plus, some studios go under the radar but assist a lot on games you sometimes hear of that are headlined by other prominent names.

[dyne]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/mar...d-off.1112481/

Marvel Rivals director and team laid off according to posts

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by dyne

https://www.resetera.com/threads/mar...d-off.1112481/

Marvel Rivals director and team laid off according to posts

This news right here, THIS is absolutely" hilarious!". The games had more than 20 million downloads and 250k+ concurrent players just on STEAM alone and the people who were at the forefront making that happen get fired. You can't make this crap up.