Being laid off is already a bad experience but being laid off close to the Christmas holiday hits differently. On Tuesday, December 10, 2024, People Can Fly announced a deep cut to its workforce in a restructuring move that will see the studio scale back its self-publishing strategy.
“Today, we made a difficult decision to reduce our self-publishing strategy by suspending Project Victoria, scaling down our team on Project Bifrost, and restructuring some of our supporting teams at People Can Fly,” read the message from the company’s CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski.
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“We are deeply saddened by the fact that this situation means suspending or parting ways with more than 120 talented Aviators, colleagues who we enjoyed having as part of our team.”
Wojciechowski blamed the decision on persistent external market pressure that lingered beyond their forecasts. The CEO said it had become necessary for the company to adjust to the evolving market. People Can Fly is doubling its effort with new work-for-hire engagements and “focusing on the development of a single independent game.
“We believe in our teams, games and their potential, and we remain extremely committed to continuing that journey, but we need to tailor our plans to our financial capacity. …These changes are deeply felt by all of us.”
Wojciechowski said the company will support those impacted during this transition, specifically by providing them “with resources and assistance to navigate this change”. It is unclear if a severance package will be part of the deal.
People Can Fly is a Warszawa, Poland-based video game company with offices in the UK and North America. It was established in 2002 and has made its mark on the shooter genre. The studio is famous for creating the Bulletstorm series, Gears of War: Judgment, Outriders, and Painkiller.
Ex-People Can Fly developers speak about the layoff
Several employees impacted by the layoff at People Can Fly have posted about it on different social media platforms—and the layoff cut through different departments. On LinkedIn, GameBaba Universe spotted over a dozen posts made by people who have been let go from the company.
“Sadly, following yesterday’s layoffs at People Can Fly, I too have to be leaving,” wrote principal environment artist Don Pan. “It has been an amazing ride over the last 5+ years working with exceptional people, whom I will miss.”
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Market research lead Elena Fedina provided more insights in her layoff announcement post which read, “As many of you have seen, People Can Fly Studio is going through a restructuring, and almost entire publishing vertical got laid off, myself included.”
Senior online programmer Jeffrey Dolan wrote, “I sadly did not survive the layoffs that happened at People Can Fly today. Really enjoyed my time though and wish the team the best of luck.”
Senior systems designer Maxime Bozzini, senior lighting artist Joanna McNeilly, and senior level designer Dave Harper all posted about the layoff. GameBaba Universe continues to use this medium to boost the portfolio of those impacted and hopes they find their feet soon.
We included a link to the profiles of those mentioned in this post so that anyone with open opportunities can easily reach out to them.
