The year is ending the way it began with layoffs and studio closures spiking again. The latest to feel the pain are the staff of Inflexion Games’ UK division. It is widely believed that the audio team was hit hardest.
At the time of writing, Inflexion Games has yet to release a formal statement on the matter. However, some of the employees impacted by the decision have posted about the matter through their social media handles.
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“It is with a heavy heart that I am sharing the sad news that the UK subsidiary of Inflexion Games is closing,” wrote audio director Jon Newman on LinkedIn, “and with it, the roles of the audio team based here in the UK as well as others in the UK are affected”.
While the reason for the closure remains unknown, Newman hinted that he would continue to support everyone impacted by the decision.
“Remote working certainly has its benefits as well as its challenges. For me, nothing regarding remote working has been more challenging than this situation and navigating it remotely with everyone,” Newman wrote.
Inflexion Games was founded in 2021 with its headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The company has four offices in Canada and one in London. According to their LinkedIn page, the reason they make games lies in their purpose, which is creating fun places where gamers can go and feel they belong. Nightingale was their first project.
Inflexion Games employees were likely informed about the closure last week
Although the news of the closure of the UK’s Inflexion Games subsidiary started spreading in the last 24 hours, VFX artist Omar Parada posted that he was made redundant at Inflexion earlier this week. This suggests that the staff of the company might have been told earlier.
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“…I’ve loved working in Nightingale with the folks there, a bunch of super talented and lovely people. But the games industry is not in a good shape lately, as we all know,” Parada wrote.
Stephanie Herdman posted about being made redundant a day before Parada did. The former community manager said, “After years of watching my industry peers go through layoffs, it’s finally caught up to me as well and I have been told my role at Inflexion will be coming to a close mid-November”.
Like all the other employees, audio designer Rebecca Parnell called the development “very sad” but was proud of what the small audio team achieved on Nightingale. Parnell also praised the Inflexion Games because of the way they handled diversity and inclusion.
“Working with Inflexion has been a highlight in my career,” Parnell said. “Their embracing of diversity and inclusivity in the heart of the studio’s culture, has made it a place where I truly felt I belonged.”
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It appears workers will be made redundant in a staggered manner until the studio finally grinds to a halt. While Herdman said her contract with the company would be terminated in mid-November, senior audio designer Tom Avis said his role would come to an end in early December.
“It looks like the layoff apocalypse finally got to me, along with the rest of the audio team at Inflexion Games,” Avis wrote. “After four years spent working on Nightingale, my role will come to an end in early December.”
Our heart goes out to everyone impacted by this closure and hope they land on their feet soon. GameBaba Universe included the link to the profile of all the people mentioned in this post so that anyone with open roles can easily reach them.
