It’s a known fact that mass layoffs have been plaguing the gaming landscape for the past year and a half. We’ve seen thousands of developers lose their jobs in 2023, and the trend has continued well into 2024. Even within the last week, we saw Xbox shutting down Tango Gameworks despite the studio delivering successful titles such as Hi-Fi Rush. The unsettling trend has gamers and developers alike concerned about the future of their beloved games and studios.
Unfortunately, CI Games, the publisher behind Lords of The Fallen Franchise, has joined the list of affected studios, with 30 employees laid off from its production teams. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, CI Games has stated these layoffs will be the “final targeted round of redundancies,” allowing the studio to reach maximum efficiency with its strategic priorities. According to the studio, the employees will be supported throughout the layoff process over the upcoming weeks.
Second Round of Layoffs For Lord of the Fallen Publisher in 2024
You might be surprised to know, but this isn’t the first round of layoffs for CI games in 2024. Back in January, the publisher announced they’re going to lay off about 10% of its employees. However, that round of layoffs was primarily concerned with the company’s marketing team. What’s more interesting is that these layoffs come right after it was confirmed that CI Games was partnering up with Microsoft to bring Lords of the Fallen Reboot and Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 to the Game Pass service.
According to the publisher, this latest layoff round will allow maximum efficiency across its studios. It’s mainly targeted at CI Games’ production teams. CI Games has also revealed that these layoffs won’t affect the ongoing work on Project 3, which is an action RPG being developed by Hexwork. This is the studio that developed the popular game Lords of the Fallen.
Project Survive, another CI Games project being worked on by the Underdog Studio, will also continue working on the game. They’ve been “given an extended period” to produce a vertical slice.
The publisher has informed all 30 employees about the layoffs and will continue supporting them over the upcoming weeks. The restructuring effort is a bit shocking as CI Games recently had a record revenue, with the company earning more than $60 million during the 2023 fiscal year. This success was largely due to the success of the Lords of the Fallen Game. The Soulslike game, rival to the Elden Ring, was a massive hit in 2023.
Why is the Gaming Industry Going Through Mass Layoffs?
Many professionals in the gaming industry blame the recent mass layoffs on overzealous hiring and huge spending during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many companies got used to increasing consumer spending, but that trend slowed as the pandemic slowed and people started returning to their daily lives.
However, a lot of professionals also claim that the pandemic isn’t the sole reason for mass layoffs in the gaming industry. Other factors that contributed are the high expenses linked with game development, bad decision-making by studios, and a lack of planning for the highs and lows faced by the industry. So far, it seems like there’s no end to this incredibly devastating trend.
