Surgent Studios, the creative force behind the captivating game Tales of Kenzera: Zau, recently made the difficult decision to lay off a little over a dozen employees. This move comes hot on the heels of the successful release of their first game, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, which received glowing reviews upon its launch in April.
The reasons behind the layoffs remain undisclosed by Surgent, as they shift their focus to providing support for those impacted, continuing their work on Tales of Kenzera: Zau, and looking towards future projects.
Read the studio’s official statement below:
“Unfortunately, Surgent is among the many game studios facing layoffs this year, with just over a dozen individuals affected. While the current climate in the games industry is challenging, we stand proud of the incredible work our team has put into Zau and the acclaim it has garnered from both critics and players. Our main focus is now on supporting those impacted, continuing the development of Zau, and exploring new creative ventures.”
The head and founder of the studio, Abubakar Salim, also shared his heartfelt response to the layoffs in his own statement:
“I want to express my gratitude to those who have shown concern during this tough time. This news is deeply saddening. It’s not the update I had hoped to share today. I am immensely proud of the team’s accomplishments over the past 4 years. They displayed incredible strength during challenging times, and it was truly inspiring. Sharing this news today is tough, but we are not alone in this. Our primary goal now is to offer support to those affected in any way possible. I will be sharing posts from our affected team members below. If you have any opportunities or leads, please consider these talented individuals.”
The unfortunate layoffs at Surgent Studios add to the growing list of studios impacted by staff reductions in the gaming industry in 2024.
Last month, Paradox Interactive shut down its Paradox Tectonic Studio alongside the cancellation of its debut game, Life by You. An earlier event saw Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive laying off 95 employees. Phoenix Labs, the studio behind Fae Farm and Dauntless, parted ways with the majority of its workforce and halted development on upcoming titles in May. In the same period, Square Enix commenced layoffs as part of “structural reforms.”
In a separate occurrence in May, Xbox closed four Bethesda studios, including Tango Gameworks (developer of Hi-Fi Rush) and Arkane Austin (the studio behind Redfall). Take-Two Interactive shut down Rollerdrome studio Roll7 and Kerbal Space Program 2 studio Intercept Games, in conjunction with significant layoffs at its indie-publisher Private Division label. Keoken Interactive, the studio working on Deliver Us Mars, also let go of the majority of its staff.
Throughout the year, EA downsized its workforce by approximately 670 employees, leading to the cancellation of a Star Wars FPS game by Respawn. Meanwhile, PlayStation laid off 900 employees across its studios, including Insomniac, Naughty Dog, and Guerrilla, with the closure of London Studio. Supermassive Games, the developer of Until Dawn, disclosed the layoffs of 90 employees.
In an event at the end of January, Embracer Group canceled a new Deus Ex game in development at Eidos-Montréal and laid off 97 employees. Black Forest Games, creators of the Destroy All Humans remake, reportedly downsized by 50 employees in January. Microsoft announced a workforce reduction of 1,900 employees across its Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and ZeniMax divisions. Outriders developer People Can Fly also made redundant more than 30 employees, while Riot Games laid off 530 employees.
Lords of the Fallen Publisher CI Games let go of 10% of its employees, Unity planned to lay off 1,800 individuals by the end of March, and Twitch made 500 employees redundant. Discord downsized its workforce by 170 employees, while PTW, a support studio working with Blizzard and Capcom, also faced layoffs. Thunderful Group, the company behind SteamWorld Build, parted ways with approximately 100 employees. Behaviour Interactive, known for Dead by Daylight, reportedly laid off 45 employees.
Our hearts at Game Informer go out to all those affected by the recent layoffs and closures within the gaming industry.