Industry closures and downsizing thread.

[Zivouhr]

"Miele said that these changes, alongside other recent cancellations and layoffs, are being done to "sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities.""

That's a nice way of saying "We're in trouble financially and not raking in the money to sustain the huge staff, so only projects that are sure bets for big money, no more risks as we trim the workforce."

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

That's a nice way of saying "We're in trouble financially and not raking in the money to sustain the huge staff, so only projects that are sure bets for big money, no more risks as we trim the workforce."

Yeah, you gotta love "corporate speak". It's akin to when Gwyneth Paltrow introduced her much memed "conscious uncoupling" BS to describe divorce lol.

I've realised that not recently but for a long while now as the Internet has begun to mature and become such a cess pit of pretending consistently to portray a false facade from individuals to corporations on social media, that's been leaking into almost everything else too. Flowery language as i like to call it used for the most benign to malign things.

I'm definitely "jaded" to it all now as a "grouchy old man" that grew up when the internet basically went mainstream in the 90s to 2000s, but i suppose that this is all a double edged sword situation because without the internet we probably wouldn't even know about all this crap going on. There's been so much more opportunities to expose bad corporate issues like crunch etc.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by NARMAK

Yeah, you gotta love "corporate speak". It's akin to when Gwyneth Paltrow introduced her much memed "conscious uncoupling" BS to describe divorce lol.

I've realised that not recently but for a long while now as the Internet has begun to mature and become such a cess pit of pretending consistently to portray a false facade from individuals to corporations on social media, that's been leaking into almost everything else too. Flowery language as i like to call it used for the most benign to malign things.

I'm definitely "jaded" to it all now as a "grouchy old man" that grew up when the internet basically went mainstream in the 90s to 2000s, but i suppose that this is all a double edged sword situation because without the internet we probably wouldn't even know about all this crap going on. There's been so much more opportunities to expose bad corporate issues like crunch etc.

Interesting.
What are your thoughts on Crunchtime versus forced overtime?
I've worked jobs where one place wanted me working 7 days a week, 12+ hours a day for a few months. I told them no, I need absolutely 1 day off a week to recover and they allowed it.
Another job, forced overtime for many months, but only about 50 hours per week so that's not as bad and manageable.

What is disappointing is that at least in the US (and probably Japan and other countries) is that a work week consists of 5 days, and rest only 2 days. That's way out of line, but considering that for centuries Sunday was the only technical day allowed for resting, I guess 2 is better than none. Also, is it true Europe has 3 or 4 days work weeks instead of 5?

Crunch, I think that's when they camp out and live in the building and are not allowed to have a life outside of work. That's not fun.

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

Interesting.
What are your thoughts on Crunchtime versus forced overtime?
I've worked jobs where one place wanted me working 7 days a week, 12+ hours a day for a few months. I told them no, I need absolutely 1 day off a week to recover and they allowed it.
Another job, forced overtime for many months, but only about 50 hours per week so that's not as bad and manageable.

What is disappointing is that at least in the US (and probably Japan and other countries) is that a work week consists of 5 days, and rest only 2 days. That's way out of line, but considering that for centuries Sunday was the only technical day allowed for resting, I guess 2 is better than none. Also, is it true Europe has 3 or 4 days work weeks instead of 5?

Crunch, I think that's when they camp out and live in the building and are not allowed to have a life outside of work. That's not fun.

Forced overtime and crunch are two peas in the same pod for me and abhorrent practices that have been unfortunately normalised. There's got to be an overhaul to ensure much better resource management and companies delaying games if necessary or not announcing release dates until they've confirmed they've done 80% of development and can set a release date with 2 months for polishing and so on.

I think if they're forcing people contractually or so on, then it should include appropriate compensation but even then i would expect workers to better unionise for rights. US, East Asian developers and some others aren't as well protected but if you look at France for example, they properly protect employees. Employers and Employees need a proper balance imo and better vetting to get the right people instead of the hire and fire crap that's got us to this point.

I don't think things will change but i'm sure AI is not going to improve things at all for employees. Executives will use it to try overwork downsized teams and pad profits by reducing costs. That's my overall view of where things will head and although SAG-AFRA are trying to push back, these companies will turn to people not able to use that union/organisation and end up getting paid a pittance. These companies also drown people legally for years.

[heyadol]

My problem with crunch is it’s NOT overtime for most of the employees involved, at least in the states. Most of the dev team are salaried employees, overtime only applies to hourly employees so unless there is a contractual stipulation, working 8 hours or 80 hours would get you the same paycheck.

Speaking from experience here (not game related but the same set of labor laws), management is quick to ensure hourly employees are out the door before overtime pay (time and a half or more) kicks in. Always lean on the salaried team since time limits are vaguely defined for salaried employees in the tech industry.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by NARMAK

Forced overtime and crunch are two peas in the same pod for me and abhorrent practices that have been unfortunately normalised. There's got to be an overhaul to ensure much better resource management and companies delaying games if necessary or not announcing release dates until they've confirmed they've done 80% of development and can set a release date with 2 months for polishing and so on.

I think if they're forcing people contractually or so on, then it should include appropriate compensation but even then i would expect workers to better unionise for rights. US, East Asian developers and some others aren't as well protected but if you look at France for example, they properly protect employees. Employers and Employees need a proper balance imo and better vetting to get the right people instead of the hire and fire crap that's got us to this point.

I don't think things will change but i'm sure AI is not going to improve things at all for employees. Executives will use it to try overwork downsized teams and pad profits by reducing costs. That's my overall view of where things will head and although SAG-AFRA are trying to push back, these companies will turn to people not able to use that union/organisation and end up getting paid a pittance. These companies also drown people legally for years.

Low staff is often a problem, good point. I've been at a number of jobs where they have people who call off work often, and the teams were so small that I ended up having to do the work for two people every time that happened, yet got nothing extra for it, which made me eventually quit and find a job where more help was available overall.

You're likely right that there is a "work hard" ethic that will keep it going for decades more.

I'd like a 4 day work week with 3 days off. That to me, seems fair. There was talk about that in the news on TV briefly but it's never taken seriously. I did hear Europe does have a more relaxed ideal of work, where 4 days is actually a normal thing if that's true. That sounds nice. That one extra day makes a big difference.

For those working for these crunchtime Publishers/Developers, I would say it's like working for a major movie studio, where they only have maybe 2 years or less to complete a movie, and in the final months, forced overtime is required. I think it's part of the whole design of that industry, requiring to meet deadlines.

I think that's why it's not a bad thing to not set a release date to allow more time and a relaxed, fun environment at work, but quotas, budgets and stockholders have to be satisfied is what seems to rule things above employee satisfaction with the job.

The alternative is to work for oneself, fill out quarterly tax reports, and then hope one doesn't go out of business from lack of income.

Originally Posted by heyadol

My problem with crunch is it’s NOT overtime for most of the employees involved, at least in the states. Most of the dev team are salaried employees, overtime only applies to hourly employees so unless there is a contractual stipulation, working 8 hours or 80 hours would get you the same paycheck.

Speaking from experience here (not game related but the same set of labor laws), management is quick to ensure hourly employees are out the door before overtime pay (time and a half or more) kicks in. Always lean on the salaried team since time limits are vaguely defined for salaried employees in the tech industry.

I didn't know that was the situation. Thanks.

So they get paid the salary per year but might actually work twice as long. That sounds like a rough deal. Overtime pay is decent at time and a half pay, but the government in the US currently apparently takes 40% of the OT pay, which is nearly half of your Overtime pay, which is ridiculous. Working more than 8 hours OT is encouraged by the Employer often, but life is short and 40% loss on that money doesn't sound like a great deal to me. I rather spend that time doing other things outside of work.

[heyadol]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

[Show spoiler]Low staff is often a problem, good point. I've been at a number of jobs where they have people who call off work often, and the teams were so small that I ended up having to do the work for two people every time that happened, yet got nothing extra for it, which made me eventually quit and find a job where more help was available overall.

You're likely right that there is a "work hard" ethic that will keep it going for decades more.

I'd like a 4 day work week with 3 days off. That to me, seems fair. There was talk about that in the news on TV briefly but it's never taken seriously. I did hear Europe does have a more relaxed ideal of work, where 4 days is actually a normal thing if that's true. That sounds nice. That one extra day makes a big difference.

For those working for these crunchtime Publishers/Developers, I would say it's like working for a major movie studio, where they only have maybe 2 years or less to complete a movie, and in the final months, forced overtime is required. I think it's part of the whole design of that industry, requiring to meet deadlines.

I think that's why it's not a bad thing to not set a release date to allow more time and a relaxed, fun environment at work, but quotas, budgets and stockholders have to be satisfied is what seems to rule things above employee satisfaction with the job.

The alternative is to work for oneself, fill out quarterly tax reports, and then hope one doesn't go out of business from lack of income.



I didn't know that was the situation. Thanks.

So they get paid the salary per year but might actually work twice as long. That sounds like a rough deal.

Overtime pay is decent at time and a half pay, but the government in the US currently apparently takes 40% of the OT pay, which is nearly half of your Overtime pay, which is ridiculous. Working more than 8 hours OT is encouraged by the Employer often, but life is short and 40% loss on that money doesn't sound like a great deal to me. I rather spend that time doing other things outside of work.

That must be state-specific. When I was an hourly employee, OT did not get taxed at a different rate than my standard wage, and it never pushed me to a higher tax bracket or increased my tax liability in any way.

The IRS (federal government) taxes everyone based on adjusted gross income, they don't care if you worked 1 hour or 10,000 hours.

[heyadol]

Back OT (and I mean "on topic" )

People Can Fly cancels Square Enix-published Project Gemini, VR game Project Bifrost
"As a result, we have to significantly regroup as a studio and scale down our teams."

People Can Fly has canceled two in-development projects—the Square Enix-published Project Gemini and the self-published virtual reality game Project Bifrost—and will lay off staff as a result, studio CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski said in a message.

The developer is also working on Gears of War: E-Day in cooperation with The Coalition, and Project Delta in cooperation with Sony Interactive Entertainment.

https://www.gematsu.com/2025/06/peop...roject-bifrost

The full message from @PCFPeopleCanFly on Twitter:
https://x.com/PCFPeopleCanFly/status...40540697727466

[dyne]

https://www.eurogamer.net/runescape-...t-put-on-pause

RuneScape developer Jagex has confirmed it's paused Project Zanaris, which aimed to add community servers to Old School RuneScape.

In a blog post on the project's status, Jagex admitted "feelings around the project were mixed", and that other core areas of the game "deserve more attention right now".

Yet the news arrives in the wake of confirmed layoffs at Jagex, with RuneScape fans speculating wider issues at the studio.

Speculation around layoffs began as fans noticed missing names from the RuneScape 3 team at the bottom of regular game update blog posts. Responding on reddit, RuneScape mod JagexHooli confirmed the layoffs as part of a company restructure.

"Yes, there have unfortunately been job reductions at Jagex," Hooli wrote. "These have been made as part of changes in a company restructure as Jagex puts more emphasis on RuneScape games and community growth.

"The majority of roles are from non-game dev and non-player facing areas. There are some exceptions within the RS team as part of the company's focus on a streamlined development approach."

What has particularly shaken the RuneScape community, however, is that two beloved developers appear to have left Jagex.

Mod Jack worked at Jagex for 15 years and was a lead game designer on RuneScape 3, while Mod Timbo worked at Jagex for 17 years and was a principal game designer on RuneScape 3. Both designers were expected to work heavily on forthcoming updates to RuneScape 3, including a new skill and region.

However, fans spotted that both names have dropped off recent blog posts. Neither designer has made a public statement.

The news of layoffs and the paused project come in a period of mixed fortunes for Jagex.

On the one hand, Jagex released its new survival crafting game Dragonwilds to strong success. The RuneScape spin-off arrived in Steam early access in April and quickly gained a sizable audience, though this has rapidly dropped off.

However, Jagex and the RuneScape community is still recovering from the fallout of a controversial pay-to-win Hero Pass that was added back in 2023, which was followed by a poorly received survey concerning future monetisation ideas in January of this year.

In March, Jagex CEO Phil Mansell departed the company after eight years, and was succeeded by Jon Bellamy, as reported by Game Developer.

[VictoryAtNight]

Days Gone developer Bend Studio has reportedly laid off 30% of its workforce five months after its live service project was canceled by parent company Sony.

According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, who first shared the news on Bluesky, that equates to around 40 employees of Bend Studio being made redundant. The studio has reportedly been working on a new, yet-to-be revealed game after Sony shut down its untitled live service offering.

That canceled game was one of two projects shuttered by Sony in January, the other being a live service God of War game that had been in development at the Demon's Souls remake studio, Bluepoint, which was acquired by PlayStation in 2021.

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/day...e-cancelation/

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by VictoryAtNight

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/day...e-cancelation/

Genuinely hope their next game reveals going to be better received than Days Gone was at launch although time does seem to have been a bit kinder in even getting them a PC release and PS5 remaster of sorts.

I still wish they just had them work on Syphon Filter remake.

[Zivouhr]

Slow times/lulls are expected in every market. Those are the times an employee wants to be a valuable member of the team and not as expendable. Showing up on time, having a unique contribution, and hopefully a role at the development studio that is not disposable or unnecessary during slow times.

Originally Posted by VictoryAtNight

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/day...e-cancelation/

Thanks. So Sony Bend was working on two games then since Days Gone. An online service game for microsales, and a new franchise game they're still working on.

Sony spent probably a billion dollars buying 12 online multiplayer developer studios, and now seems to have changed their mind after their investments aren't working out as planned. Not good for Sony's bet on online gaming.

[VictoryAtNight]

1047 Games, the developer behind free-to-play portal-hopping shooter Splitgate 2, announced that it's laid off an undisclosed number of employees.

"Today we parted ways with a small group of valued 1047 Games team members," is one way to put it, seen in the company's recent LinkedIn post. "We're still perfecting the Splitgate 2 gameplay experience in response to community feedback, and we are redirecting resources to build the best game for our players. We are sad to see our teammates go, and we are actively working to help them secure new opportunities."

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps...-troubled-fps/

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by VictoryAtNight

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps...-troubled-fps/

Isn't this the developers of the game that also literally just sold gangbusters and exceeded expectations but yet they've decided to get rid of so called "valuable" employees. M'kay.

[dyne]

To the surprise of nobody.

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2025/0...-at-the-studio

It probably won't come as much of a surprise to hear that MindsEye, which is one of the most controversial Xbox games of 2025 so far, is apparently leading to mass layoffs at the new development studio Build a Rocket Boy.

A report from IGN mentions that over 100 employees are potentially affected according to "studio sources", which represents 1/5 (or more) of the entire workforce which stands at somewhere around 500 employees.

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by dyne

To the surprise of nobody.

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2025/0...-at-the-studio

I genuinely do wonder how it would look if you dug into when the company formed, when they basically gestated the idea for Minds Eye to release and probably find it was a mess from the get go. That said, i don't think the executives care about the people, just the money they'll be set to lose.

[Nunab18]

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/...offs-hit-rare/

Rare’s long-in-development original IP, Everwild, has been cancelled, sources have told VGC.

According to people with knowledge of the project, team members were informed of the news, which comes amid significant layoffs across Microsoft and Xbox, which were formally announced on Wednesday.

Employees are likely to lose their jobs as part of broader restructuring of Seas of Thieves developer Rare, the sources said.

https://www.windowscentral.com/gamin...the-initiative

Microsoft is closing down The Initiative, after 7 years. The partnership with Crystal Dynamics will end, and "Perfect Dark" will be cancelled.

https://apnews.com/article/microsoft...e24edebe9fcc6b

Microsoft is laying off thousands of workers, its second mass layoff in months and its largest in more than two years.

The tech giant began sending out layoff notices Wednesday that hit the company’s Xbox video game business and other divisions.

The company declined to say how many people would be laid off but said that it will comprise less than 4% of the workforce it had a year ago.

Microsoft said the cuts will affect multiple teams around the world, including its sales division.

“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace,” it said in a statement.

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer also sent a memo to employees Wednesday that said the cuts would position the video game business “for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas.”

It would also “follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness,” Spencer wrote.

Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual headcount. The company said Wednesday that its latest layoffs would cut close to 4% of that workforce, which would be about 9,000 people. But it has already had at least three layoffs this year and it’s unlikely that new hiring has matched the amount lost.

[R3P0]

Originally Posted by Nunab18

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/...offs-hit-rare/



https://www.windowscentral.com/gamin...the-initiative



https://apnews.com/article/microsoft...e24edebe9fcc6b

Also affects Perfect Dark Remake that has now been cancelled as well with the closure of Initiative

[NARMAK]

The MS news is just another dire bit of unnecessary job losses and titles now canned that probably would have shaped up to be quite good but not to the level of shareholder and exec expectations for profits.

[Nunab18]

Apparently a third game, an unnamed MMO, from ZeniMax was also cancelled.