UPDATE: Per a post on LinkedIn, it seems like parent company Ziff Davis, is laying off every staff member and handing the reins to a third-party consultancy group.
Former lead Chris Radley, who departed in 2022, chimed in saying:
“Operations have been handed off to a third party consultancy. NO staff are left. Do not believe this tailored message written by the parent company of Humble Games, Ziff Davis, who are trying to mitigate pushback. This was once again a failure of leadership across the board, and once again hard working talented staff are paying the cost for their poor decisions. Every ex-employee is being gaslit by this narrative, and it’s so disrespectful.”
Another former Humble Games employee confirms to Aftermath that no one survived the layoffs with Ziff Davis.
Original story below:
Humble Games is laying off 36 people in what the company calls a “restructuring of operations” as it faces “challenging economic times for indie publishing.”
In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability…
— Balor Games (@BalorGamesGG) July 23, 2024
In a Twitter post, Humble Games revealed its current situation. Instead of shutting down, the studio intends to lay off employees to achieve stability in the future.
In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects. Additionally, the restructuring of operations at Humble Games will have no impact on operations at Humble Bundle.
We are acutely aware of the profound impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and deeply empathize with everyone affected. Our team’s contributions have been world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we started publishing in 2017. We are committed to navigating this transition with as much empathy and understanding as possible.
Supporting our development partners and assisting former team members remains our top priority. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved. Thank you for your support and compassion during this challenging period. It is deeply appreciated.
Humble Games employees took to LinkedIn to reveal the IGN-owned company no longer employed them.
Only in November 2023 did Humble lay off employees from its publishing arm. Humble Games recently launched Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus last week to critical success. In the previous two years alone, we’ve seen thousands of layoffs at nearly every publisher and studio across the industry.
