2023 might just be the worst year in the history of gaming – at least when it comes to the health of the development studios themselves. With thousands of devs already having been laid off across dozens of studios, another publisher is now set to drop up to a 3rd of its entire workforce.
As reported by Eurogamer, the Telegram channel ‘Gamedev we deserve’ shared details claiming that indie publisher tinyBuild have laid off staff across its 3 Siberian studios. According to the report, each studio has seen between 10% and 30% of its employees let go; alleging that no pre-warnings were given and that the affected employees were pulled “into a one-on-one meeting to deliver the news they had been let go.”
As mentioned, tinyBuild themselves have yet to officially confirm the news, but it was alluded to in a recent statement by CEO Alex Nichiporchik who said “It's physically painful to part ways with colleagues after all the good work they put into the company” adding that “weak demand for video games and the sudden reversal of market dynamics” contributed to the decision.
Founded in 2011, tinyBuild is known best for developing the time-travel platformer ‘No Time to Explain’. As a publisher, they have also released the likes of Lovely Planet; Party Hard; Clustertruck; Hello Neighbour; Graveyard Keeper and Tinykin.
KitGuru says: What do you think of all these lay-offs? Are companies simply taking advantage of the current climate to lay-off as many people as they can? Let us know your thoughts down below.