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Two more studios announced layoffs today. Those studios are Black Forest Games and People Can Fly.
Black Forest Games is the studio behind the remakes for Destroy All Humans! and Destroy All Humans! 2. The studio reportedly laid off roughly 50% of its entire workforce. In 2023, Black Forest Games reportedly had 110 employees, meaning that about 55 people are now out of a job today. These layoffs were announced on January 24th.
According to sources speaking with Kotaku, supposedly all creative directors and "most 'if not all'" of the managers will keep their jobs.
Black Forest Games was working on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, which was announced back in March 2023. Black Forest Games is owned by THQ Nordic, which itself is owned by, you guessed it, Embracer Group.
People Can Fly also just laid off over 30 employees. The layoffs seem to only affect those that were working on an unannounced title, known internally as Project Gemini, at the studio. Project Gemini is set to be published by Square Enix, if it still going to be worked on after these layoffs.
People Can Fly say that the layoffs occurred due to "budget limitations and shrinking scope." In addition to those 30+ that were fully laid off from People Can Fly, roughly 20 more were cut from Project Gemini but will continue working at People Can Fly on other projects.
People Can Fly is the studio behind games such as Painkiller, Bulletstorm, and 2021's Outriders.
(...)Due to contract details, laid off employees in Poland were given a three-month transition period and will continue working during that time. For those outside of Poland who were affected by today’s cuts, they will be out of a job by the end of the week.
