Outriders studio People Can Fly is cutting “more than 120” jobs in second round of layoffs this year
Outriders developer People Can Fly has announced its second round of layoffs in less than a year, this time affecting “more than 120” people. The move comes alongside the cancellation or reduction of several projects, with the studio blaming “external market pressure” for the move.
In a statement announcing the latest layoffs, People Can Fly CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski wrote: “Today we made the very difficult decision to scale back our self-publishing strategy by pausing Project Victoria, reducing our team on Project Bifrost and restructuring some of our supporting employees. Team People Can Fly.”
“We are deeply saddened by the fact that this situation means the removal or separation of more than 120 talented aviators,” Wojciechowski continued, “colleagues we enjoyed having on our team… This action became necessary as pressures on the external market continued. The video game market is still evolving and we have to adapt to what’s happening today. We are redoubling our efforts by opening new hiring projects and focusing on growing one independent company. game.
“We believe in our teams, games and their potential, and we remain committed to continuing on this path, but we need to adapt our plans to our financial capabilities… We are deeply grateful for the contributions of every team member impacted by this situation . turn of events; their talent and dedication have helped shape our company and our games. These changes are deeply felt by everyone.” Wojciechowski added that the studio is providing “resources and assistance” to those affected by job cuts and remains “equally committed to caring for those who remain who are coping with the challenges of losing colleagues and friends.”
The latest wave of layoffs at People Can Fly follows the studio’s decision to cut “more than 30” jobs in January this year. The layoffs follow reports of changes to the budget and scope of Project Gemini (a collaboration with Square Enix that the studio previously acknowledged had run into problems), as well as Take-Two’s decision to cease publishing People Can Fly’s Project Dagger last September . In addition to several other unannounced games, the studio continues to work on the Microsoft-funded Project Maverick, based on one of the latter’s intellectual properties.
Today’s news continues a devastating 2024 for the gaming industry, with more than 14,600 industry employees believed to have lost their jobs since the start of the year – and that’s in addition to the 10,500 workers laid off in 2023. So why are these layoffs happening? GamesIndustry.biz’s Chris Dring shared his thoughts earlier this year.