June is shaping up to be one of those rough months for video game developers. Avalanche Studios Group has announced that it is laying off 50 employees. In addition to the layoff, it will be closing its Montreal and New York offices.
Avalanche still has studios in Liverpool, UK as well as Stockholm and Malmo in Sweden. The studio which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2023 has carved a niche in the development of open-world games.
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“Today, we regretfully announce the closure of two of those locations: New York and Montreal,” the studio disclosed in an official statement. “This means we’ll be parting ways with around 50 valued friends and colleagues, which represents roughly 9 percent of Avalanchers worldwide.”
“This is an exceptionally difficult decision, but we believe it’s necessary to ensure a stable and sustainable future for the company.
“Our focus is now on supporting all Avalanchers through this challenging time. We’re grateful for the invaluable contributions of those leaving and remain committed to creating incredible gaming experiences for our players.”
Last October, the Just Cause developer announced plans to open its Canadian office after the acquisition of Montreal-based studio, Monster Closet. Monster Closet was founded in 2021 by a veteran developer who previously worked at Ubisoft.
Avalanche Studios is currently working on Contraband, a title that is set to be published by Xbox Game Studios for consoles and PCs. The new IP will focus on vehicular combat. Avalanche developed Mad Max in 2015 and co-developed Rage 2 with Id Software in 2019.
Avalanche Studios has announced theHunter: Call of the Wild’s latest reserve
Just last week, Avalanche Studios announced the latest reserve for theHunter: Call of the Wild which is set in Sundarpatan Nepal Hunting Reserve. During the announcement, the studio said they were excited to see the reactions of players.
“We’re flying our community of hunters to the vast expanses of Sundarpatan Nepal Hunting Reserve,” said the studio. “Here they can roam and hunt across a diverse range of biomes. Including the snow-covered, rough open ridges in the mountain region, the rhododendron forests of the mid-hills, and the overgrown sal forests that bask in the tropical climate of the lowlands.”
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“With new environments to discover, new animals to uncover, and missions revolving around conservation, agriculture, and photography, we can’t wait for players to pounce in!”
Although the layoff is coming just days after theHunter announcement, we are almost certain that it will not affect the game’s development and launch.
Also last week, test automation Engineer, Love Arvidsson, who was also the chairman of Avalanche Workers Sweden union club told his members that he would be leaving the studio on June 14.
“Working at Avalanche has been an amazing opportunity to grow in my field, to get to know even more of the wonderful people in our industry, and to discover more about myself; how I want to work, with whom, and what I want to accomplish with that work,” Arvidsson said.
“Perhaps the greatest reason I’m moving on is to continue that journey of self-discovery at a very different studio.”
