The entire staff at Humble Games, the publisher behind games such as Unpacking, Slay the Spire and Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus, has been subject to mass layoffs, according to LinkedIn posts by affected staff members. The news came to light after officials posted that their time at the studio was over (thanks, Eurogamer).
Nicola Quan, business development manager at the studio, wrote: “At 9am this morning all 36 Humble Games employees were told we were being let go and that the company was closing.”
Technical release manager Brandon Boswell reiterated that the entire staff at Humble Games has been subject to layoffs, writing: “Unfortunately, all of us at Humble Games have been affected today and many good people are looking for work and would really appreciate your support.”
In a statement posted on LinkedIn, Humble Games confirmed that it had “made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations”, and a spokesperson told Eurogamer that Humble Games “will not be closing”.
However, artist Chris Radley has posted that all current projects will be completed by a third party, with the mass layoff affecting all of Humble Games’ current staff. “I want to be abundantly clear,” he wrote, “this is NOT a restructuring of operations. This is a complete #HumbleGames shutdown. Operations have been outsourced to a third-party consulting firm. There are NO staff left.’
Lost In Cult’s Ryan Brown tweeted that after talking to various former employees, “The ‘restructure’ is that no one works there anymore. It no longer exists.”
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 Dawes:
Here’s Humble Games’ official statement on the subject, posted on LinkedIn:
In these economically challenging times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was not taken lightly; involved a lot of discussion and careful consideration to ensure stability and support for our developers and ongoing projects. Additionally, the restructuring of Humble Games operations will have no impact on Humble Bundle operations.
We are fully aware of the profound impact this decision has had on our team members at Humble Games, and we deeply sympathize with all those affected. Our team’s contributions are world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we began publishing in 2017. We are committed to managing this transition with as much empathy and understanding as possible.
Supporting our development partners and helping former team members remains our top priority. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for all involved. Thank you for your support and compassion during this difficult time. This is deeply appreciated.
It’s the latest round of cuts in a year that has seen similar stories from Sony, Microsoft, NetherRealm and many other studios.
