Hitman 3 VR studio will lay off nearly all staff, employee says
"This goes beyond restructuring."
Leeds-based studio XR Games looks set to lay off nearly all of its staff, following the poorly-received release of Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded.
72 people - out of the studio's 84 staff total - were told they were at risk of redundancy this week, according to a LinkedIn post by XR Games' former head of production on LinkedIn (thanks, RoadtoVR). Just 12 employees are likely to remain.
"This goes beyond restructuring," the staff member wrote. "I'll keep my thoughts and observations to myself. Today, my focus is on helping those affected."
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Positions marked for redundancy look to include numerous development disciplines across the studio, including artists, programmers, project management, production, game design and IT.
XR Games is yet to announce the redundancies, and it's as-yet unclear whether the studio is planning to continue work on its other VR projects, such as Zombie Army VR and Starship Troopers: Continuum.
Eurogamer has contacted XR Games for comment.
Eurogamer's VR expert Ian Higton took a look at Hitman 3 VR Reloaded at launch and found the game in a disappointing state, with poor visual quality, VR gameplay implementation and the removal of story scenes.