Humble Games
Image: Humble Games
The entire staff at Humble Games, the publisher behind games like Unpacking, Slay the Spire, and Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus, has been subject to a mass layoff, according to LinkedIn posts from affected staffers. The news comes after employees announced that their time at the studio was coming to an end (thanks, Eurogamer).
Nicola Kwan, the studio’s head of business development, wrote: “At 9am this morning, all 36 employees at Humble Games were informed that we were being made redundant and the company was closing its doors.”
Brandon Boswell, the publishing tech lead, echoed the fact that all Humble Games staff had been affected by layoffs, writing, “Unfortunately, all of us at Humble Games have been impacted today and there are a lot of good people looking for work and would really appreciate your support.
In a statement posted on LinkedIn, Humble Games confirmed it had “made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations,” and a spokesperson told Eurogamer that Humble Games “is not closing.”
However, artist Chris Radley has indicated that all current projects will be handled by a third party, with the mass layoff affecting all current Humble Games staff. “I want to make this very clear,” he wrote, “this is NOT a restructuring of operations. This is a complete shutdown of #HumbleGames. Operations have been outsourced to a third party consultancy. There are no staff members left.”
Ryan Brown of Lost In Cult wrote on Twitter that after speaking with several former employees, “the ‘restructuring’ means no one works there anymore. It doesn’t exist anymore.”
Chris Radley goes on to suggest that the official statement posted on Humble Bundle’s LinkedIn page was written by AI, a suggestion also shared on social media by Larian Games’ publishing director Michael Douse:
https://t.co/iduq8t8DPh pic.twitter.com/znSqBAUyPC— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) July 23, 2024
Here is Humble Games’ official statement on the matter, as posted on LinkedIn:
During these challenging economic times for independent game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure its operations. This decision was not made lightly; it required much deliberation and careful consideration, with the goal of ensuring stability and support for our developers and ongoing projects. Additionally, the restructuring of Humble Games’ operations will have no impact on Humble Bundle’s operations.
We are acutely aware of the profound impact this decision has had on our team members at Humble Games and we deeply sympathize with everyone affected. Our team’s contributions have been world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we began publishing them in 2017. We are committed to navigating this transition with as much empathy and understanding as possible.
Supporting our development partners and assisting former team members remains our top priority. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved. Thank you for your support and compassion during this difficult time. We are deeply grateful.
It’s the latest wave of layoffs in a year that has seen similar stories at Sony, Microsoft, NetherRealm and many other studios.
We’ll keep you updated if we hear of any significant developments or updates. Full transparency: Humble Games is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns Gamer Network (including Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, and several other gaming sites – and partners with Nintendo Life and Hookshot Media for ad sales) following its acquisition of Reedpop earlier this year.
[source eurogamer.net]
Jim Norman
Jim joined Nintendo Life in 2022, and despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his undying love of the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he’s continued to write news and articles for the site ever since.
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