At a time like this, we have to honestly ask how much humanity is left in the studio’s management to do something like this at a time like this?
People Can Fly, best known for Bulletstorm, Gears of War: Judgment, and Outriders, announced that they have laid off or furloughed over 120 employees due to “external market pressures that have persisted beyond their projections”. They say on their website that they have a team of 700, but that is presumably the number before the cuts. On Twitter, Sebastian Wojciechowski offered this explanation:
“Today we made the very difficult decision to scale back our self-publishing strategy by suspending Project Victoria, reducing our team on Project Bifrost, and restructuring some of our support teams at People Can Fly. We are deeply saddened by the fact that this situation means suspending or parting ways with more than 120 talented Aviators, colleagues we have enjoyed having as part of our team. This action has become necessary as external market pressures have continued beyond our projections. The video game market is still evolving, and we need to adapt to where things are today. We are redoubling our efforts with new work for hire engagements and focusing on the development of a single independent game.
We believe in our teams, our games, and their potential, and we remain deeply committed to continuing that journey, but we must align our plans with our financial capabilities. We are deeply grateful for the contributions of every team member affected by this turn of events; their talent and dedication have helped shape our company and our games. These changes are deeply felt by all of us. We recognize that this is a very difficult time for our team members as we say goodbye to valued colleagues who have contributed so much. We are focused on supporting those affected during this transition by providing resources and support to help them navigate this change, and we are equally committed to caring for those who remain as they face the challenges of losing colleagues and friends.
Our priority is to approach this moment with compassion and ensure that our team feels supported as we work together to build a stronger future.
In this difficult moment, our commitment to excellence and creativity remains as strong as ever. To everyone who loves what we create – we will not give up on our dreams,” Wojciechowski wrote.
In January, People Can Fly laid off more than 30 employees, along with its project, code-named Gemini. Victoria and Bifrost have also not been revealed, and both have been in the works for at least two years. They were first hinted at in 2022, when the company struck a deal with Take-Two. Project Dagger also went bust: it had been in development with the publisher since 2020, but ran into problems in 2023 and was also canceled this year.
It’s hard to see results with one cancelled project after another.
Source: PCGamer
