The end of January ushered in a flurry of studio closures and layoffs that has continued to bleed into February. This time it is the news that Iron Galaxy Studios, the developer behind the free-to-play brawler battle royale Rumbleverse, has laid off 66 employees.
“For several years now, we have watched our industry undergo significant change,” the studio announced through a post on LinkedIn. “So many of our friends and colleagues who work in game development have suffered a series of painful adjustments. We’ve seen talented people lose their jobs. Inspiring companies have closed their doors. Our own game, Rumbleverse, was met with a premature sunset.”
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“All the while at Iron Galaxy, we’ve been making sacrifices to keep our teams intact. It has been our hope that we could emerge from this long winter alongside all the teammates who have come to work with us over the years. Today, we’re making the unfortunate announcement that we have run out of room to maneuver amidst this slow recovery.
“Today, Iron Galaxy is parting ways with some of our developers and support staff. In total, we have reduced our employee base by 66 people. This was a means of last resort for us. It’s a measure we do not take lightly to enable our long-term survival.”
It doesn’t appear the studio has any plans to release a new IP any time soon. According to the announcement, the studio will continue to focus on serving its partners in creating games. In other words, they will continue to explore roles as a support studio for the foreseeable future.
Iron Galaxy launched Rumbleverse on August 11, 2022, but the game was short-lived and the servers shut down six months after launch. It was published by Epic Games Publishing. Rumbleverse was a battle royale where 40 players were dropped into Grapital City or Low Key Key and had to fight each other to be the last man standing.
Ex Iron Galaxy employees share their experiences
Iron Galaxy was founded in 2008 with its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. The studio takes pride in building “new worlds born of our own ideas”. They called all the games they have made—both for themselves and for partners—a “labor of love”.
Several former employees impacted by the downsizing have posted about it on social media. For many impacted by the decision, it was their first career layoff—which would likely be more difficult for them to process.
“Today is a first in my professional career. I was laid off as part of a downsizing from Iron Galaxy Studios,” wrote player support manager Derrick Gennrich who worked on Rumbleverse and redesigned the company’s website. “While I admit it comes as little surprise to me personally, I look forward to using my wealth of experience and leadership to help create a best-in-class support team,” he added.
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“As you may have heard from others. I too was affected by the layoffs over at Iron Galaxy,” wrote quality assurance lead Allen Altenor. “This is a first for me and was completely unexpected, but life trudges on. I want to give a huge shoutout to the wonderful people I’ve met over the past 4 years while working at IG.”
“Hi all, unfortunately I’ve been impacted by the layoffs at Iron Galaxy Studios today,” wrote microtransaction designer Michael Perez. “The last 4 years have been just as challenging as they have been rewarding. I’ve made life-long friends and grown in so many ways, from expanding my design expertise in UI and UX to managing as a project lead.”
Talent acquisition program manager Katherine Sanchez reminded us how difficult it was to make posts about layoffs saying, “It’s always hard to make posts like this. I have been affected by the layoffs at Iron Galaxy Studios. I am currently looking for work and would love the chance to bring my experience to a new company.”
Several other former employees shared their experiences about working with Iron Galaxy, and they were mostly glowing reviews. The entire GameBaba Universe team wishes them the best in their future endeavors.
