Gravity Well – the independent studio founded by former Respawn Entertainment and Infinity Ward employees all the way back in 2020 – is now undergoing layoffs affecting more than 40 of its workers. In a LinkedIn post, the three studio heads – Drew McCoy (CEO and executive producer), Jon Shiring (CTO), and Mon Saetern (COO) – revealed that the company had lost its funding this year and was still in the process of looking for a new partner.
“When we started Gravity Well, our goal was to create the best place in the world for developers to do their best work. Sadly, today we’re having to take a big step back in achieving that goal. Gravity Well lost our funding this summer and have been searching for a new partner. We haven’t secured funding yet.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce that Gravity Well has had to say goodbye to the majority of our team – over 40 amazingly talented developers.”
The studio went on to note that its entire workforce was kept aware of the events that led up to its funding being lost while it was happening. Thanks to this, these layoffs won’t come as a major surprise, since the studio was already having some trouble finding a new partner since summer. In the meantime, the studio will continue to operate with a smaller team. However, its ultimate future seems uncertain owing to the current state of the gaming industry.
“Everyone was informed of the situation as it was unfolding, and have been aware of this possibility if we were unsuccessful in finding new funding. We take it seriously that the team has stuck with us throughout this process, hopeful that we could find a solution before funds ran out. We are truly sad that we couldn’t get it done in time to keep the team together.
“Gravity Well will continue with a much smaller team as we continue to fight for survival, but given the current state of the industry, our future is uncertain.”
When it was founded, Gravity Well was made up of quite a few veterans of the gaming industry, with many among the project leadership who had worked on major titles like Apex Legends, Uncharted, The Last of Us, System Shock 2, Borderlands, World of Warcraft, and Titanfall 2. The studio was founded with the goal of prioritizing the physical and mental health of its workers, an emphasis on profit-sharing with developers, and a focus on only shipping projects that “we love”.
It is worth noting, however, that Gravity Well hadn’t announced any of the projects that it may have been working on. Rather, the studio’s official website only showcases a couple of pieces of concept art that, while not providing too many details about what projects they may have been for, implied that the projects would be based in fantastical settings where a bear could be a bartender, a high-tech typewriter could be seemingly connected to an external network, and a gigantic aircraft armed to the teeth with cannons could land in port alongside boats with more conventional weaponry.
