You can almost guess that there would be layoffs every week and, somehow, a gaming studio will prove you right. The latest studio to suffer the brutal slash of the layoff axe is Phoenix Labs. At least 34 employees have been rendered redundant by that decision.
The layoff is the second this year by the Canadian video game developer best known for Fae Farm and Dauntless. Layoffs in the studio appeared to have happened in the last days of November because it was around that time that former employees of Phoenix Labs started posting on LinkedIn about being laid off.
“After 5 very busy years at Phoenix Labs and *checks notes* 4,336 git commits, I’ve unfortunately succumbed to the latest round of layoffs among so many of my talented teammates,” wrote Quentin Beauperin, a front-end developer. “It has been a privilege to work alongside so many amazing humans on projects that would have made my 12-year-old self jealous. If you know of someone who could use a front-end dev with a special place in his heart for good UX and clean ULS, reach out!”
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Soon after the news went viral, a representative from Phoenix Labs confirmed the news to GamesIndustry.biz. According to the representative, the games teams were not affected by the layoffs, and work on all their current games will continue.
“After a rigorous review we made the decision to change the structure of our support team, and we have made the tough decision to reduce our workforce by a total of 34 people, across our publishing, HR, IT, and shared services teams,” the representative said.
“Our games teams were unaffected and our work continues across our titles at Phoenix Labs. Fae Farm’s DLC and Dauntless updates are on track, and we have exciting unannounced projects in the works. We thank each of the affected team members who have helped to build Phoenix Labs into what it is today. Their impact will be missed and live on through everything the studio does moving forward.”
Phoenix Labs message to GamesIndustry.biz
Phoenix Labs cut 9% of its workforce in May
The current layoff by Phoenix Labs is not the first by the studio this year. Back in May, the studio cut 9% of its workforce. At that time, the studio said it was part of a strategy to determine its “strongest path in terms of success and sustainability.”
Phoenix Labs has had an eventful year. In February, the studio bought back its independence from its former parent company, Garena. Phoenix Labs was acquired by Garena in early 2020. Later that year, the studio expanded and opened new offices in Los Angeles and Montreal.
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Also, three co-founders departed the company. Nevertheless, the studio is on course for bigger events with the announcement of its first major content update for Fae Farm on November 30.
This year has been the most brutal for video game workers with over 80 video game companies announcing layoffs. Some studios like Campfire Cabal and Volition Games were unfortunately killed by Embracer Group with others put up for sale. Below is a list of all the video game companies that have announced layoffs this year as compiled by Romain Fricaud, a senior producer at Survios.
- Bungie
- Telltale Games
- Keywords Studios
- Twitch
- Naughty Dog
- Team17
- Creative Assembly
- Epic Games
- Mediatonic
- Maze Theory
- Blizzard Entertainment
- Roblox
- Crystal Dynamics
- Beamdog
- ProbablyMonsters
- DoubleDown Interactive
- Ascendant Studios
- Visual Concepts
- Gearbox Publishing
- Romino Games
- EastSide Games
- Blackbird Interactive
- BioWare
- Vela Games
- Imagendary Studios
- Striking Distance Studios
- Popcore
- CD Projekt Red
- Double Stallion Games
- TavroxGames
- Daedalic Entertainment
- Ludia
- Niantic
- Elodie Games
- Wildseed Games
- Scavengers Studio
- The Game Band
- Embracer Group
- Inverse
- Firemonkeys Studio
- BonusXP
- Kabam
- Gwent team (CD Projekt Red)
- Relic Entertainment
- Deck Nine Games
- Brace Yourself Games
- The Molasses Flood (CD Projekt)
- Deviation Studios
- Ubisoft
- Final Strike Games
- Plaion
- Unity
- Phoenix Labs
- Waypoint (Vice)
- Ready at Dawn
- Downpour Interactive
- Line Games
- Take-Two Interactive
- GameLoft
- Survios
- Big Run Studios
- Nexon Games West
- Mutant Arm Studios
- Wicked Realm Games
- InnoGames
- EA
- Hidden Leaf Games
- HiRez Games
- Meta
- Riot Games
- Bethesda Game Studios
- The Coalition
- 343 Studios
- GameSpot
- Giant Bomb
- NetEase
- Giant Bomb
- NetEase
- Rainbow Studios
- VentureBeat
- Covenant.dev S.A.
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