Denver developer Illfonic says they’ve had to “accept the harsh reality” of the game industry today and cut staff.
On X, studio CEO Charles Brungardt explained the studio eliminated roles to “realign to a refined strategy.” At the time of writing, it’s unclear exactly how many employees were impacted.
Illfonic is primarily known for making multiplayer games based on horror film franchises. It was the original creator of Friday the 13th: The Game before Black Tower Studios took control of its development. After that transfer, it made 2018’s Predator: Hunting Grounds, 2022’s Ghostbusters Unleashed, and this year’s Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
Separate from that, it also developed original titles Arcadegeddon and Nexuiz, and has also been a support studio on titles such as Crysis 3 and Star Citizen.
This makes the newest studio to lay off staff this week. Yesterday, December 3, Ubisoft announced the closure of its San Francisco and Osaka studios alongside the end of its free-to-play shooter, xDefiant. A team based in Sydney is also being “ramped down,” and 277 overall employees will be impacted.
That same day, Deceive Inc. creator Sweet Bandits Studios announced its own closure. The 18-person team explained it had reached a “breaking point” trying to keep it sustainable since its release in March 2023. As the team disbands, it and its publisher, Tripwire Interactive, are looking at ways to maintain the title for as long as possible.
Game Developer has reached out to Illfonic about the number of impacted employees and the cause for its layoffs and will update when a response is given.