CI Games, the Polish developer and publisher behind the action RPG Lords of the Fallen and the Sniper Ghost Warrior series, has laid off approximately 10% of its workforce. Sources claim the majority of the marketing team has been made redundant, along with staff at Hexworks, So this affects many employees, including those responsible for Lords of the Fallen and those at Underdog, the developer behind Sniper Ghost Warrior.
CEO Marek Tyminski confirmed the layoffs in a statement made to GamesIndustry.biz. According to him, the restructuring was necessary to maintain business strength and stability. Moreover, he announced further optimizations to the organization’s pipelines and processes.
This move comes despite the recent success of Lords of the Fallen, which sold over 1 million copies within ten days of its release last year. However, the game was also CI Games’ most expensive project to date, with development costs exceeding PLN 281 million (approximately $66.2 million). These layoffs are not isolated within the video game industry. It seems to be something that happens all the time.
“CI Games has made the tough but necessary decision to implement a targeted round of redundancies, affecting approximately 10% of employees across the company. We would like to thank each of them for the part they’ve played during their time with us. Further business optimisations are being made to the organisation’s pipelines and processes.”
Marek Tyminski
While the specific reasons for these job cuts vary, they may point to broader challenges facing the industry, including increasing development costs, a saturated market, and the impact of global economic issues.
CI Games has not disclosed the exact number of employees affected by the layoffs nor provided specific details about the departments or locations impacted.
This is something that we are used to in this industry, but it doesn’t mean it’s all right. Our good wishes go out to everyone affected by these layoffs.