Behaviour Interactive—the studio behind asymmetrical multiplayer horror game Dead by Daylight—has announced that it has laid off some of its employees. While the company didn’t reveal exactly how many of its workers have been affected, in a statement to Game Developer, a spokesperson said that the layoffs were targeting roles surrounding mobile and casual external development. In the statement, the spokesperson pointed to a decline in demand for such projects.
“A portion of Behaviour Interactive’s business has traditionally focused on external development partnerships. In recent months, demand for mobile and casual external development projects has declined,” said the spokesperson.
“As we conclude our remaining engagements and do not foresee comparable opportunities in the near term, we have made the decision to part ways with some colleagues. Those decisions are never easy, and we are grateful for the contributions of the affected employees, who have helped shape Behaviour and support our partners over the years.”
Interestingly, the layoffs come just weeks after the company acquired the studio behind 7 Days to Die. While the value of this deal wasn’t revealed, the company celebrated the acquisition, noting that the zombie survival game had seen more than 20 million sales since release.
Recent days have seen quite a few layoff announcements. Earlier this week, Iron Galaxy Studios announced round, which reports indicate will end up affecting up to 90 of its employees.
“Today, Iron Galaxy Studios regrets to announce that we are reducing our company size. A number of teammates and friends are losing their jobs as we adjust to a new company structure. We are terribly sorry to lose them as we take steps to adapt to the climate of the video game industry. It’s time for us to evolve again,” announced the studio.
This month has also seen Polyarc Games—the studio behind VR title Moss—announcing layoffs as well. In a statement, the company said that it had to “significantly” reduce its size, and thanked the affected workers for having contributed their talents to the company.
Recent rumors have also indicated that Wuchang: Fallen Feathers developer Leenzee was facing layoffs. While the studio hasn’t made any statement about this so far, it appears that the studio wasn’t quite happy with the game’s reception, leading to the entire team that made it being laid off.
Just last month, Epic Games announced massive layoffs affecting more than 1,000 of its employees. Citing a “downturn in Fortnite engagement,” CEO Tim Sweeney said that the company was “spending significantly more than we’re making, and we have to make major cuts to keep the company funded. This layoff, together with over $500 million of identified cost savings in contracting, marketing, and closing some open roles, puts us in a more stable place.”
Sweeney went on to note that, “We have taken a lot of bullets in a battle, which is only in the early days of paying off for ourselves and all developers.”
“What we now need to do is clear: build awesome Fortnite experiences with fresh seasonal content, gameplay, story, and live events; accelerate developer tools with greater stability and capability as we evolve from Unreal Engine 5 and UEFN to Unreal Engine 6. And we’ll be kicking off the next generation of Epic with huge launch plans towards the end of the year,” he continued.