CI Games has laid off around 10% of its workforce in order to "preserve business strength and stability", the studio has revealed.
This news comes via GamesIndustry.biz, which initially found several CI Games staffers' LinkedIn posts suggesting that "the majority of the marketing team has been made redundant".
The site subsequently obtained a statement from CI Games CEO Marek Tymiński (which was also posted on X) in which he calls the decision to let 10% of employees go "tough but necessary".
According to GI.biz's sources, Lords of the Fallen studio Hexworks and Sniper Ghost Warrior developer Underdog, both of which are internal CI Games development studios, were also affected by the layoffs.
Tymiński says that "further business optimizations are being made" to CI Games' "pipelines and processes", although he doesn't elaborate further on exactly what that means for the studio.
News of layoffs at CI Games may come as something of a surprise given Lords of the Fallen's success, but this is a story that's sadly becoming all too common across the industry.
Unlike Thunderful, which also announced layoffs yesterday, CI Games doesn't go into detail regarding the reasons behind its layoffs, but it's far from the only studio letting staff go right now.
In January alone, layoffs have been confirmed at the Embracer-owned studios Lost Boys Interactive and 3D Realms, as well as developers Bossa Studios and Archiact.
That's not to mention the wave of layoffs that occurred throughout 2023, with major companies like Hasbro, tinyBuild, Amazon's gaming division, and Destiny 2 developer Bungie reducing their workforce last year.
In the case of CI Games, as GI.biz points out, Lords of the Fallen reportedly cost over $66 million to develop, making it the most expensive title in the studio's history.
It's entirely possible that the game didn't manage to recoup its development costs, and that that's the principal reason behind the layoffs, but it's difficult to say.
We'll bring you more on any potential future industry layoffs as soon as we know about them.
