Report: Rocksteady Studios Layoffs Start Due to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Underperformance
As expected, given Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s disappointing sales performance, Rocksteady Studios has been hit with layoffs, with the QA (quality assurance) department seemingly hit the most for now.
Rocksteady staff has reached out to Eurogamer to confirm the layoffs at the studio, and how the QA department has been downsized in half over the past month. Per the source, the 33 staff members from the department have now been reduced to just 15, with the recent game’s poor sales as the main reason for the “restructuring.” Sadly, the studio staff who shared the news have said that due to the shaved headcount in the department, this means the remaining people left will be shouldered with more work.
Outside the QA part of the studio, other staff members are affected as well, with one studio developer being told they were being laid off in the middle of their paternity leave. Per the report, staff members affected include numerous junior staff, and also team members that have been at the studio for more than five years.
Sadly, the layoffs that just hit the studio is something most know was coming given the game cost WB $200 million to produce, and it sales were “disappointing” according to CEO David Zaslav. From what was reported previously, this is not the end of the studio, as Rocksteady’s higher ups are reportedly pitching a new single-player game.
Our review of Suicide Squad was fair but didn’t hold back as we mentioned, “The studio chased after the promise of what GaaS could bring but, in doing so, forgot what made people love them so much. There are still moments of that seen in the campaign, and I would still recommend any fan to play it at one point. But here, right now? Probably not, at least not at the asking price for an incomplete experience.”
We here at MP1st wish everyone affected are able to land on their feet as soon as possible.
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