Renowned publisher 505 Games, known for bringing us such titles as Death Stranding, Ghost Runner, Control, and Payday 2, has become the latest company to fall under the shadow of the massive layoffs trend across the tech industry.
The publisher’s parent company, Digital Bros Group, is seeing a restructuring in its focus plan, with the 505 layoffs the result.
In a Nov. 14 press release, the Digital Bros Group announced “an organizational review, with an expected workforce reduction of approximately 30 percent.” They elaborated on the decision, claiming the state of the market post-COVID is “selective,” with players choosing established and long-running IPs and franchises instead of new and unique titles.
The company suggests it has to adapt and will now be focusing on releasing games from existing and recognized IPs and lowering its output of new big games.
In light of its change of plans, the company says it will undergo a review of all the projects currently in development. As the teams are likely to shrink considerably, estimates suggest this will eventually result in a 30 percent reduction in workers.
“The restructuring program is expected to represent a reduction of approximately 30 percent… with the predominant portion concentrated within the studios,” Digital Bros wrote.
Layoffs have become coming hard and fast across tech in 2023; more recently, some prominent gaming devs have been hit with them.
Nearly two hundred people were fired from Amazon’s gaming division two days ago, on Nov 13. A prominent, recent example would be Bungie, which cut its staff by 100, adding to the tally of over 6,000 jobs lost in the gaming industry in 2023 alone. Though reasons vary, it seems the gaming market is not in too good of a position right now, as companies like Bungie have been missing targets by double-digit percentages.
Hopefully, this trend of layoffs in tech will eventually stop, allowing those who may have lost jobs to return to the industry.
Published: Nov 14, 2023 10:01 pm