A fresh wave of layoffs has seen staff let go at three prominent gaming studios.
EA Sports WRC developer Codemasters, Hello Neighbor publisher tinyBuild, and Insurgency: Sandstorm studio New World Interactive have all apparently been hit by layoffs in the last few days.
Layoffs at Codemasters were confirmed in a statement given to IGN by parent company EA, although, as IGN points out, EA doesn’t reveal the scale of the layoffs in its statement, instead simply referring to “small-scale organizational changes”.
EA also doesn’t disclose a reason for the layoffs beyond “align[ing] our teams and resources to meet evolving business needs and priorities”.
However, it’s been reported that Codemasters’ F1 23 sold disappointingly compared to its immediate predecessor, which could be part of EA’s reasoning.
Over at tinyBuild, meanwhile, a trading update released today contains comments by CEO Alex Nichiporchik wherein he describes “part[ing] ways with colleagues” as “physically painful”.
Again, Nichiporchik doesn’t state how many employees were let go from tinyBuild, but his comments do come as part of a statement that also confirms the studio’s trading in Q4 2023 is “below expectations”.
The statement also makes reference to a legal settlement between tinyBuild and Versus Evil, which the publisher acquired in late 2021.
The case appears to involve funds allegedly owed to Versus Evil by tinyBuild, and the settlement involves the publisher paying Versus Evil $3.5 million plus legal costs.
The final studio to have been hit by layoffs is New World Interactive, whose name you’re probably familiar with if you’ve played Insurgency: Sandstorm.
These layoffs were initially reported by Insider Gaming as a complete studio shutdown, but a statement provided to the platform afterwards by a Saber Interactive spokesperson merely confirmed “restructuring changes”.
Those changes have “unfortunately resulted in layoffs” at New World Interactive, the spokesperson confirmed, and they went on to say that the studio is “working to fill existing open roles within Saber with individuals affected by these changes wherever feasible”.
Second Wind’s Nick Calandra also confirmed the layoffs in a post on X, sharing a LinkedIn post from a former New World Interactive employee putting a call out for work after being let go.
These layoffs are the latest in a long line that has also hit studios like Humble Games, Amazon, and Bungie, and has seen the closure of Saints Row developer Volition and co-development outfit Puny Human.
