One week after delaying Homeworld 3 till Could, Blackbird Interactive has confirmed that an unspecified variety of workers have been laid off from the studio.
The layoffs had been initially reported by a number of former Blackbird Interactive workers on LinkedIn (by way of Sport Developer). Jacob Van Rooyen, who was working as lead producer on a brand new undertaking at Blackbird Interactive, stated that layoffs had been made “throughout the corporate, and, sadly, I used to be a kind of impacted.”
“Regardless of the state of affairs, I admire all of the experiences and fantastic individuals I’ve met and recognized at BBI,” Van Rooyen wrote. “I have been amazed and humbled by everybody’s assist at this time, and I want everybody impacted the very best in touchdown on their ft.”
Alexander Weatherton, who was simply promoted to the place of recreation director in November 2023 “to steer a brand new undertaking,” was additionally among the many workers let go. “After 4 unbelievable years at BBI I have been sadly affected by a brand new spherical of layoffs,” Weatherton wrote. “I’ve grown and learnt a lot these previous few years and am keen to use these learnings to my subsequent function.”
Blackbird Interactive confirmed the layoffs in an announcement supplied to PC Gamer. “Because of financial pressures outdoors of our management, we needed to take the unlucky step of separating from some mates,” the studio stated. “That is a part of a realignment plan that’s mandatory due to new initiatives that had been shelved by a few of our companions. We checked out a number of methods of avoiding this and regretfully different choices weren’t viable.”
The studio stated it’s providing “prolonged advantages and severance” to laid-off workers, and that the cuts won’t have an effect on the event of Homeworld 3.
2023 was a brutal yr for layoffs within the videogame business, and 2024 has up to now saved up the appalling tempo with deep cuts to indie studios and main gamers alike. It has been, fairly frankly, a yr of disaster, and it appears set to worsen: As we famous in our have a look at the affect of 16,000 layoffs since January 2023, the business was midway to 2023’s whole layoff rely in January 2024 alone.
