Darksiders Genesis and Wayfinder studio Airship Syndicate announces more layoffs
Blames "difficult challenges facing our industry".
Airship Syndicate, the studio behind the likes of Darksiders Genesis and Wayfinder, has announced its second round of layoffs in less than a year. These latest job cuts will impact 16 employees, with Airship blaming "difficult challenges facing our industry."
The studio initially laid off 12 people back in January, two months after its publishing agreement with Warframe developer Digital Extremes - which was handling Airship's free-to-play fantasy game Wayfinder - collapsed. Since then, Wayfinder has been reworked and re-announced as a single-player title, the overhauled game eventually releasing back in June.
Unfortunately, its retooling doesn't seem to have given Airship a sufficient boost. In a statement shared on LinkedIn announcing the studio's latest layoffs, CEO Joe Madureira and president Ryan Stefanelli explained, "In light of the difficult challenges facing our industry, we've had to make the tough decision to let go of some incredibly talented Airship team members, including 12 full-time employees and four contractors."
Madureira and Stefanelli note the pay cuts they took back in January during the studio's first round of layoffs remain in place, and that they're "both contributing personal funds to help Airship continue operating with our remaining staff." According to today's announcement, 50 employees are still at the studio after this latest round of job cuts, and Airship is "committed to delivering the Wayfinder roadmap and developing future projects."
"We extend our deepest gratitude to all of our employees, both past and present," Madureira and Stefanelli concluded, "for their hard work and dedication."
Today's news continues a devastating 2024 for the games industry, which has already seen over 12,000 employees lose their jobs since the year began. Back in March, GamesIndustry.biz's Chris Tring, writing for Eurogamer, took a closer look at the circumstances leading to such massive numbers of job cuts over the last few years.