Three Studios Are Already Closing Down, Two Studios Suffer Layoffs and We’re Just Two Weeks in 2025
[summaraize]
Following a tumultuous 2024 that saw multiple studios lay off employees and even shut down entirely, the start of 2025 isn’t faring any better, as three studios have already announced they are closing up shop permanently.
The studios affected include Toadman Interactive, Counterplay Games and Freejam.
Multiple Game Studios Are Shutting Down in the First Month of 2025
Enad Global 7, parent company of Toadman, announced not only announced that the studio is shutting down, but also confirmed that MechWarrior 5: Clans developer Piranha Games is also laying off staff.
Toadman Interactive’s latest released game was multiplayer shooter EvilVEvil, which failed to pique player interest after its release in July 2024. The studio also did support work for Helldivers 2, PlanetSide 2, and Warhammer: Verminitide, among others.
Piranha Games, meanwhile, will be laying off staff after MechWarrior 5 underperformed commercially. Enad CEO Ji Ham said (via Game Developer) the latest MechWarrior game sold “below expectations,” and added the layoffs will “ensure [the studio] continues to operate with a sound profitability while being able to ship new content according to plan.”
As for Counterplay Games, the studio is known for developing Godfall, a PS5-exclusive release title, though the game was released on other platforms two years later. The report first surfaced on PlayStation LifeStyle, who took a screenshot of a Jackalyptic employee that mentioned, “Unfortunately we were unable to continue our partnership into the new year and CPG was disbanded.” However, going back to the Jackalyptic person’s (which we’ll refrain from linking so as not to give them unwanted attention) LinkedIn profile, they have now committed the “disbanded” part.
Godfall Developer Apparently Has “Disbanded”
We have emailed Counterplay Games and will update the article if we hear a statement in response.
Another studio confirmed to have shutdown this year is Freejam, the developer behind the Robocraft franchise. In a message on the official Robocraft Discord server (via Techraptr), Freejam’s Rawxas states, “the current market conditions and the server costs required” to keep Robocraft 2 running mean that the studio is unable to launch the game’s 1.0 version or continue development.”
This means that Robocraft 2, Robocraft, and even the cardboard survival game CardLife will all be sunsetting soon.
Another studio that’s greeting 2025 with bad news is Splash Damage (Brink). The studio relayed a message last week that Transformers: Reactivate’s development ceasing, but they are also laying off employees. The studio’s announcement notes, “a number of roles across the studio are now potentially at risk of redundancy,” though it’s not specified how many jobs will be affected.
Transformers: Reactivate was announced in 2023 and was in development as an online multiplayer game based on the Transformers license.
We here at MP1st really hope those affected can bounce back as soon as possible. Hopefully, 2025 won’t be as bad as 2024 when it comes to video game industry layoffs.
[Credit thanks: Vitor D]
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