The video game industry is still experiencing a wave of layoffs; employment losses have been reported by both Digital Bros. Entertainment and Kongregate. As part of an “organizational review,” Digital Bros., the company that owns Check producer 505 Games and other companies, said on Tuesday that it will be cutting off thirty percent of its workforce, or around 130 employees. According to a press statement, Digital Bros.’ studios would be significantly impacted by the employment losses. Apart from 505 Games, Digital Bros. Entertainment is the proprietor of DR Studios (which developed Terraria for mobile and console platforms), Kunos Simulazioni (which created Assetto Corsa), Infinity plus Two (which created Puzzle Quest 3), Supernova games, nested games, Avantgarden (which created Last Day of June), and Ingame Studios (which created Crime Boss: Rocky City).
The publisher and online gaming platform Kongregate has eliminated over a dozen positions in a variety of divisions. Polygon reached out to Kongregate for comment; they did not reply. Several departments, including art, VFX, marketing, community management, and production, are affected by the layoffs. Kongregate, which gained notoriety as the online Flash gaming site in the early 2000s, has had a difficult few years. After Adobe stopped supporting Flash in 2020, Kongregate was forced to convert to permanently storing their Flash games.
Kongregate Shifts Focus, Ends User-Generated Content
Kongregate declared in July 2020 that it was shifting its focus to internal development and would no longer be accepting user-generated content. It made multiple firings at that time in an effort to “reform” the business. One Kongregate employee told Polygon it was completely unexpected. In the last several days, three video game companies have let go of employees: On Monday, Amazon’s gaming section revealed layoffs. According to a message from Amazon Games vice president Christoph Hartmann, the firm “refocuses” on Prime Gaming, which resulted in the layoff of more than 180 employees from Crown Channel and Game Growth. Video game publisher Humble Games, which releases titles like Coral Island Additionally, Mineko’s night market revealed to GLHF that it had let go of an unspecified number of workers this week. In the video game business last year, there were over 6,000 layoffs. as stated on a website that tracks layoffs.
Digital Bros Adapts Strategy Amid Gaming Industry Evolution
Digital Bros said Tuesday, November 14, in a news, statement posted on the business website that the gaming market has “evolved since the pandemic” and is now more selective, with many players once again concentrating on playing “well-established” intellectual assets. They mentioned:
“Digital Bros strategy had to adjust to this new and changing competitive scenario. It will concentrate its future efforts on the release of new and improved versions of previously popular and well-established games, along with a small number of new, larger budget productions.”
The roles at which studios will be affected by the layoffs were not specified. With offices throughout the globe, including in China, France, Australia, Canada, Spain, Japan, and Germany, is Digital Bros.
