EvilVEvil developer and Helldivers 2 support studio Toadman Interactive has announced that it will be shutting offices in Norway and Sweden. The decision has also led to several roles being made redundant. Some roles in the company’s Berlin office have also been made redundant.
“Like many other game companies, we have gone through a tough period over the last 12 months, and, unfortunately, that means that we are shutting down our offices in Stockholm, Visby, and Oslo, as well as having some redundancies in our Berlin studio,” the studio announced on LinkedIn.
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Toadman Interactive was founded in 2013 and has its headquarters in Stockholm. It describes itself as “a cozy mid-size game development company”. Toadman Interactive is part of Enad Global 7 (EG7), “a global gaming cooperative comprised of established companies from around the world, specializing in video game entertainment”.
The games on the company’s roster include Immortal: Unchained, Westmark Manor, and Bloodsports.TV. The studio released EvilVEvil on July 16, 2024. EvilVEvil is a fast-paced first-person vampire shooter that rewards players for mowing through hordes of enemies. The game’s review on Steam has been “Mostly Positive”. However, in July EG7 said the game released to a “lackluster reception and sales figures” in its financial report.
Toadman Interactive has also worked as a support studio for Warhammer: The End Times -Vermintide, DC Universe Online, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, and more recently, Helldivers 2 and Dead Island 2.
Earlier this year, the studio announced they had hired Brian Etheridge, a former producer at Take 2 Interactive and associate producer at Treyarch to serve as the managing director of its Berlin studio.
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“I am extremely excited to announce that I have joined Toadman Berlin with the EG7 group. With a lot of exciting projects on the horizon, they are a truly first-rate studio,” Etheridge said at that time. “It is fantastic getting to work with developers that are truly passionate and to help make their visions come to life.”
Ex Toadman Interactive employees speak about the layoff
It appears the layoffs at Todman Interactive started several months ago. Around June, senior character artist Isak Svalling posted on LinkedIn announcing his departure from the studio. However, he did not expressly mention if he was laid off or departed on his own terms.
“Hi all! After almost 7 years at Toadman Interactive as a character artist, I’m now on the hunt for new challenges. Feel free to reach out if you have any ideas!” Svalling wrote.
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The studio’s CTO Andreas Jonsson was impacted by the recent layoff. Rather than bitterness or pointing fingers, his post on LinkedIn was flowing with gratitude for his colleagues and the CEO of the studio Ola Nilsson.
“I like to thank all my fantastic colleagues at Toadman Interactive for the honor and pleasure of working together all these years,” Jonsson wrote. “It has been a fantastic ride and although I wish it could have ended differently, I’m still immensely proud and happy of what we [accomplished] together.”
From the fourth quarter of 2023 to the beginning of this year, the layoff was almost a monthly affair. However, its frequency declined in the last few months. Now, there appears to be a resurgence with layoffs announced in Rocksteady Studios, Ballistic Moon, and Tilting Point in a week.
