The flagship Paris office of Don't Nod (Remember Me, Life is Strange, Vampyr, Banishers) is running out of funds. They will not have any money by November of 2026 and desperately looking for a publishing deal. Their biggest shareholder Tencent refused to cooperate further.

Semi-independent office in Montreal is a different entity sponsored by Netflix. Their partnership continues regardless.

#LayOffs@GameDEV
#Finance@GameDEV
#DontNod@GameDEV

Well, one of the Sea of Thieves leads, who took a serious role to maintain the whole portfolio, is stepping down before major layoffs. I assume, he doesn't want to be associated with whatever happens next.

#XBOX@GameDEV

Arkane, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory were added to the list for closure in addition to Compulsion Games. They all apparently negotiate independence from XBOX.

They may at best be left without their IPs but with core teams on their own. Even as independent entities they will have to run through significant layoffs.

#XBOX@GameDEV
#Microsoft@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV

The team behind Luna Abyss was laid off from Kwalee without a warning. Hollie Emery, the CEO of Kwalee Labs announced it on her LN.

The game has been released less than a month ago and got positive reception from players and media. It sold OK-ish since there was almost no marketing (and I have never heard of it before).

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1933000/Luna_Abyss/
#Horror@GameDEV
#Kwalee@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV

Zenimax is also hit by layoffs beyond Arkane, the procedure will take some time, but unless an employee is working directly on Fallout or Elder Scrolls, they are in danger.

Imagine buying billions upon billions of assets to now slowly kill the whole thing. It's heartbreaking.

#Microsoft@GameDEV
#XBOX@GameDEV
#Bethesda@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV

Spellcaster Chronicles from Quantic Dream is now closed.

Instead of hiding in the shadows, Quantic Dream is preparing materials about the development of the game. Concept Arts are already available.

Paid founders pack granted users earlier access, but overall it was free to play. And by the decision of the developer and publisher, all in-game payments were refunded automatically + they enabled extended refund on Steam.

#Multiplayer@GameDEV
#QuanticDream@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV
#NetEase@GameDEV

The studio behind Memories in Orbit is shutting down. Douze Dixièmes got independent from Focus Entertainment and then failed to gather any funding.

MiO was considered a commercial failure by Focus which leaves me speechless — what were their expectations then?

#LayOffs@GameDEV

Compulsion Games that is among Xbox studios under fire, now allowed people to find new job before the mass layoffs.

They are also the creators of We Happy Few that I liked a lot but somehow can't recommend widely.

#LayOffs@GameDEV
#XBOX@GameDEV

Keyword was always a very hard place to fit: tight budgets and limited time are synonyms of production houses. It wa rather surprising that they were still active in such an expensive area.

#LayOffs@GameDEV

Undead Labs (State of Decay) is also set for sale or closure, apparently. The workers of XBOX are unionized in many cases but it seemingly not helping much.

At the least, hundreds of jobs are at stake. Double Fine Productions could lose 100 jobs if it is shut down. Undead Labs could lose 110 jobs. Compulsion could lose 90 jobs, and Ninja Theory could lose 135 jobs. All told, that’s about 435 jobs that could be lost.

It's expected that the total number across XBOX will be over 1000 people this time in addition to thousands fired in the last couple of years.

#XBOX@GameDEV
#Microsoft@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV

Wait, do Asha plan to shut XBOX down or what? (the shot from The Verge)

#XBOX@GameDEV
#Microsoft@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV

Let me guess, starts with Micro ends with soft? (via)

#IOInteractive@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV

• 1600 jobs are gone today
• 1600 more will follow soon
• Ninja Theory is sold (Senua)
• Undead Labs sold (State of Decay)
• Double Fine goes indie
• Compulsion Games goes indie
• Some of their IPs will be shared
• France blocked Arkane closure
• It is under "consultation" = soon
• More studios will be closed too
• Major cuts across XBOX
• Big cuts in ZeniMax (Bethesda)

• King and Mojang report directly to Asha now (the biggest cash cows)

#XBOX@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV

We are halfway through 2026

#LayOffs@GameDEV

And somehow they still have to make more Doom games with half of the team 🫡

#XBOX@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV

Imagine bringing a commercial success to your company only to be fired right away 😑

#Ubisoft@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV

Somewhat fewer bits left (via)

#LayOffs@GameDEV

1047 Games, the studio behind Splitgate and Empulse is firing a significant but undisclosed amount of people (again).

They already laid off 45 people (28% of staff) last year when Splitgate 2 failed commercially. Now Empulse ("inspired by Titanfall") found no players and therefore no revenue to keep the company up.

#LayOffs@GameDEV
#Multiplayer@GameDEV

A logo of the strike from the Ubisoft Barcelona union: this office developed all underwater missions of the Black Flag remake and then 50 of them were fired.

#Ubisoft@GameDEV
#LayOffs@GameDEV

ZA/UM fired over 30 people due to commercial failure of their recent game Zero Parades: For Dead Spies. The feedback was positive but the sales are far from Disco Elysium.

A lot of the original fans were suspicious due to legal battles over the studio and weren't rushing to buy a new project upon release. But the game sold at least 50 000 copies for $40 in less than three months = $1.5-2m gross revenue. What numbers did they expect?

#LayOffs@GameDEV