In what many will see as the biggest shock yet of 2024, all 36 employees of Humble Games were laid off in what the company called “restructuring of operations”. Humble Games was birthed in May 2020 through the rebranding of Humble Bundle’s publishing division.
“In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations,” read the official message from the company. “This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects. Additionally, the restructuring of operations at Humble Games will have no impact on operations at Humble Bundle.”
ALSO READ: Ubisoft Sends A Message To Japanese Community Over Assassin’s Creed Shadows Backlash
“We are acutely aware of the profound impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and deeply empathize with everyone affected. Our team’s contributions have been world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we started publishing in 2017. We are committed to navigating this transition with as much empathy and understanding as possible.”
In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability…
— Humble Games (@PlayHumbleGames) July 23, 2024
The company said that its priority is to support former team members and development partners to make the transition “as smooth as possible” for everyone impacted. Although the company claimed that it was restructuring its operations, many believe what happened was a total shutdown of Humble Games.
Humble Bundle was acquired by Ziff Davis (the media giant that owns IGN, Eurogamer, and Rock Paper Shotgun) in 2017 via its IGN Entertainment subsidiary. The fate of the company’s upcoming games including Billie Bust Up, Breeze, Lost Skies, Monaco II, Never Alon 2, On Your Tail, and Wizard Legend II remains unclear.
Several ex-Humble Games employees air their opinion
Even before the official layoff announcement by the company, several employees of the company had already made posts about the unfortunate layoff and possible shutdown of Humble Games. While some expressed shock at the turn of events, others tried to make light of the situation.
“Achievement Unlocked! Get Caught in Game Industry Layoffs?” wrote data analyst Alliyah Taylor. “By now, most of y’all have heard the news: Humble Games as we know it is no more, and all 36 of us have been laid off. We really had something special at Humble Games, and I am so grateful to have been a member of this team for the last year (+ 1 month).”
ALSO READ: Why Is My Gaming Laptop So Slow? 5 Ways To Fix It!
Associate Director of Brand Marketing Brea Timmerman vividly described the dramatic layoff in her LinkedIn post. “This morning, all Humble Games employees were called into an all-hands meeting to inform them that their roles had been terminated, myself included,” Timmerman wrote.
Digital sales specialist Rachel L described the uncharacteristic layoff a bit differently, “Last minute calendar invite for a company meeting? Never good. Today all 36 Humble Games employees were let go”.
“Unfortunately, as some have heard all of us at Humble Games were impacted today and there are a lot of good people looking for work,” wrote senior release manager David Liu. “I am going to miss the amazing team we had and working with everyone. I hope we can all find new opportunities soon.”
Senior manager Nate Valenta was still processing the shocking decision by the management which according to him was surprising. Valenta said this was his first layoff since working in the game industry for 13 years.
“For 13 years, I’ve somehow been lucky enough to dodge layoffs in the games industry. Something I’ve always been incredibly grateful for. Today, that luck ran out,” Valenta wrote. “This morning, everyone at Humble Games was informed that we’re all being let go. This has all been a bit surprising, and I’m still internalizing everything that’s happened.”
ALSO READ: 2 Ways To Play PS5 In Tesla Exposed
Ex-Humble Games employee Chris Radley was critical in his criticism of the management, saying that it was more than a layoff but a total shutdown of the studio. Radley claimed the message from the parent company was “AI message” which is just an attempt to “mitigate pushback”.
“This was ONCE AGAIN a failure of leadership across the board, and once again hard working talented staff are paying the cost for their poor decisions,” Radley wrote. “Every ex-employee is being gaslit by this narrative and its so disrespectful.”
