cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/11258346
Polish developer Reikon Games has reportedly dismissed a significant portion of its workforce.
Sources told GamesIndustry.biz that around 70 people have been laid off, while former producer Rafał Basaj claimed it was around 60 people via a Threads post.
Others told Kotaku that an estimated 56% of the company’s employees have been affected.
The layoffs were announced to staff on January 23, 2024, with multiple former employees since posting on LinkedIn and social media platforms that they are looking for work.
GamesIndustry.biz reached out to Reikon Games for confirmation and comment, but has not received a response at the time of writing.
Reikon is best known for 2017 cyberpunk shooter Ruiner, which was published by Devolver Digital.
It’s mindblowing that the studio had 100+ people and their only game was apparently RUINER. I was convinced it was a smaller indie game, how could they have that many employees and only release one decently successful game in like 6+ years?
I think that is a microcosm of the whole business right now. Very low interest rates meant that VC were taking bets like this all the time. Which allowed devs to finance expansion well beyond what their revenues would allow. The free money tap turned off and now everybody has to adjust back down. Low interest rates are an engine for growth. Raising rates is meant to crush investment and employment.
Macro economics is bullshit and not empirical at all but, the monetary policy levers do what they are supposed to do.
VCs chucking millions around, expecting billions, is an engine for growth. Capital is the bottleneck and capital is why these bestselling games now belong to empty studios.