Barely a month after the launch of Alone in the Dark, Pieces Interactive has reportedly laid off yet to be yet-to-be-identified number of employees. The news of the layoff first surfaced online from a former employee’s post. Technical environment artist and quality assurance analyst for Alone in the Dark, Helena Hansen took to X to announce her layoff on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.
“IM Getting Laid Off,” Hansen wrote in a post that had close to a million views at the time of writing. “I’ll make a better post with my links and all that once the feelings have settled, but ugh. My heart is breaking for myself and my coworkers right now.”
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Responding to that tweet, senior environment artist Des Walsh reminded Hansen that layoffs are “never an indictment of you or your team but always choices of others outside of your control”. Hansen agreed with that view saying, “None of this was on any of us”.
Although GameBaba Universe didn’t find another post about the layoffs at Pieces Interactive, we noticed that 12 employees in the company have now updated their profiles to include the infamous green #OpenToWork badge on LinkedIn.
Among those who have updated their profile include lead animator Lena Envall, Technical Designer Jesper Back, junior animator Marcus Nilsson, environment artist Michelle Powell, technical designer Aksel Jensen, technical game designer Johan Synnergren, animator Ludvig Degerfelt, technical designer Gizela Wikstrom, environment artist Anton Ehn, and technical lead Carl-Oscar Lönn.
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Suppose all the people who updated their profiles were laid off, it means that the decision was not localized to any particular department of the company, but rather a widespread layoff that may be linked to the uninspiring performance of Alone in the Dark which was released on March 20, 2024.
Pieces Interactive did not get the response it anticipated from Alone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark launched to a mixed reception. On Metacritic, the game’s best score was 67 on PC. That number dropped to 66 on Xbox Series X, and 63 on PS5. It was supposed to be the reimagination of the 1992 survival horror game of the same name.
The game allowed players to choose between Edward Carnby and Emily Hartwood as they explored the Derceto Mansion to uncover the mysteries that it holds. While some players praised the story and puzzle-solving elements, they criticized the combat system and survival elements with one reviewer calling it a shadow of Resident Evil.
According to GameSensor, Alone in the Dark sold nearly 20,000 copies in the first week on Steam and made nearly $1 million in the process. In comparison, the original 1992 release sold 2.5 million copies, making it the most successful entry in the franchise.
Pieces Interactive was founded in 2007 as an independent game development company. Since its founding, Pieces Interactive has collaborated with several other studios to make games across different platforms including mobile, PC, and console.
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The company’s LinkedIn page explained that “Pieces specializes in games of a smaller scope but of high quality, value, and uniqueness for digital distribution”.
Pieces Interactive was acquired by Embracer Group in 2017 after they completed work on the expansion for Titan Quest, called Titan Quest: Ragnarök. They have since released another expansion for the game titled Titan Quest: Atlantis.
Layoffs in the game industry have become almost a monthly affair since Q4 2023. It was estimated that around 10,000 jobs were lost in the industry last year.
However, the first quarter of 2024 saw the loss of over 7,000 jobs, putting this year on track to be one of the worst for game developers. Several factors have been blamed for the mass layoffs in the industry including publisher greed.
