Studio Wildcard, the developer behind Ark: Survival Evolved has laid off 6 developers. The company said the departure of the six developers “will not impact” the development of Ark: Survival Ascended or Ark 2.
When Game Developer reached out to the company, the studio spokesperson maintained that around “120 employees and contractors were still with the company”. The company also ruled out the need for additional cuts for the rest of the year.
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The Redmond, Washington-based studio was founded in 2014 by Jeremy Stieglitz and Jesse Rapczak, two industry veterans. Their mission for forming the studio was to bring AAA quality to ambitious indie productions.
“With countless years of combined industry experience across multiple independent and studio-backed titles, Wildcard’s core team continues to grow, with offices in Redmond, WA and Gainesville, FL including distributed team members across multiple continents,” read the About section of the company’s LinkedIn page.
Just like Singularity 6, what is strange about the layoff at Studio Wildcard is that when you visit the studio’s website you will be greeted with a red banner that reads, “We’re hiring! Click here for more info”.
GameBaba Universe found two posts made by people who were impacted by Studio Wildcard layoffs. Senior character artist Jimmiek Rankin did not mention that he was laid off but said he was looking for a new role and listed out his qualifications.
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“Hello everyone, this is my first post in a long time,” wrote ex-associate producer Rewant Verma. “Unfortunately, the recent wave of layoffs has caught up to me as well marking today as my official last day at Studio Wildcard.
“Time flies when you enjoy what you do, and the last 2 years have been nothing but enjoyable and memorable experiences for me, both professionally and personally. My time at SWC taught me many things, like how passionate developers can overcome almost any challenge, or what it takes to be a successful and efficient producer who is willing to take on any responsibility.”
Scammers are impersonating Studio Wildcard
Several posts have shown that scammers are now impersonating Studio Wildcard and preying on developers who may be looking for employment opportunities. Key frame animator N. ChinniGanapathi narrated his ordeal with one of the imposters in a lengthy post.
“I have recently been scammed by someone pretending to be hiring for Studio Wildcard,” ChinniGanapathi began his story. “It just happened that I had applied to the studio about a month prior to this contact. I can’t assure this, but I’m thinking somehow their applicant’s database may be compromised?”
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“In any case, the scammer/s initially contact you through email (attaching pictures below). Their email is jobs@studiowildcard.site, which I think can be easily overlooked, and the sender’s name is Jeff Strickland. They start by sending over a document describing the position and what you’ll be doing, and there you’ll see instructions to set up an interview with the interview manager supposedly called Gerald Axton.
“Now this is where my first red flag went up. The interview was conducted on Discord, and it was fully text-based. They’d send over the question, and you’d have to answer by ending the answer with a “DONE” at the end of it. Which seemed really strange but I unfortunately decided to let it pass.”
A lead animator Maxi Keller also had a similar experience as well as animator Luis Delgado. The mass layoffs in the game industry have made a lot of people desperate about finding new roles and scammers are now preying on this desperation to defraud unsuspecting victims.
While you are searching for a new role, be careful not to fall to these scammers. Anyone that asks you to pay to get a job is likely a scammer and you should ignore such messages.
