Homeworld 3 developer Blackbird Interactive is the latest studio to fall victim to the sweeping wave of layoffs currently hitting the gaming industry, a spokesperson has confirmed.
Reports began to swirl that Blackbird employees were being laid off yesterday, when several employees posted messages to that effect on their LinkedIn pages.
Following those reports, a spokesperson for Blackbird Interactive confirmed the layoffs to Game Developer, although the scope of said layoffs is not currently known.
According to the spokesperson's statement, Blackbird is laying off employees in order to contribute to a company-wide "realignment plan" which was put into effect after "new projects" were shelved by some of Blackbird Interactive's partners.
The spokesperson says the layoffs are happening due to "economig pressures outside of [the studio's] control", and that the layoffs constitute an "unfortunate step".
Blackbird's spokesperson claims that the studio "looked at multiple ways of avoiding this", but that "other options weren't viable". The employees being laid off from Blackbird Interactive will, however, receive "a suite of extended benefits and severance" to help them in their "transition".
Blackbird Interactive's story is sadly one that's become all too common in the gaming industry of late.
Other studios hit by layoffs recently include companies across the Embracer Group, as well as Visual Concepts, Airship Syndicate, and even Wizards of the Coast's parent company Hasbro.
In the case of Blackbird Interactive, its layoffs come just a week or so after the upcoming RTS Homeworld 3 was delayed once again, this time to May 13th. The game had already been pushed back on more than one occasion.
We'll have to wait and see what these layoffs mean for Blackbird Interactive's future slate, as well as for the future of Homeworld 3. Stay tuned for more on this and all other things gaming industry-related, including where this wave of layoffs takes us next.
