Lost Boys Interactive, a support studio that has worked on titles such as Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and Diablo 4, recently took to LinkedIn to announce a reduction in staff. Specific details on how many jobs are being cut as part of this fresh round of layoffs weren’t shared, and attributes the need for the job cuts to “shifting market conditions within the video game industry” have “required us to reassess our operations to align with the evolving needs of our business and our partners”.

“Today is a challenging day for Lost Boys Interactive as we face the difficult decision to reduce our workforce,” said Shaun Nivens, CEO of Lost Boys Interactive. “We recognize the impact of this decision on our team members, who have contributed greatly to our success. Decisions involving staff reductions are never made lightly, and this action was taken only after considering all other options. We are committed to supporting them in every way we can during this transition.”

Lost Boys Interactive has also said in its statement that its ongoing work on current co-development project remains unimpacted, and that the studio will “continue to seek additional development opportunities moving forward.”

Lost Boys Interactive was hit with another round of job cuts earlier in the year, in January. Prior to these two rounds of layoffs, the studio’s headcount numbered at 400, while currently it employs over 200 people.

It will be renamed before the sale closes while publishing rights to Gunfire Games’ Remnant series, Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Breaker, and other unannounced titles will be retained. Lost Boys Interactive (which worked on Wonderlands and faced layoffs earlier this year), mobile 3D scanning company Captured Dimensions, and Cryptic Studios of Neverwinter and Star Trek Online fame are also staying with Embracer.

These companies would be “welcomed and integrated” into other parts of the group and expected to contribute “a positive cash flow going forward.” Embracer has seen several layoffs since a $2 billion deal fell through last year, with studios like Free Radical and Volition shuttered. Whether further layoffs will occur following the sale of Gearbox and Saber Interactive remains to be seen.

Lost Boys Interactive, a studio owned by Embracer-owned Gearbox Entertainment, is the latest studio under the company’s ownership to suffer layoffs. A number of former employees who were affected by the job cuts confirmed the news on social media. While the exact scale of the layoffs is currently unknown, former producer Jared Pace wrote on LinkedIn that “a sizable portion” of the studio had been let go, and confirmed to Aftermath that the layoffs had “affected all disciplines at all levels”.

Lost Boys Interactive was founded in 2017 and acquired by Gearbox in 2022, and prior to this round of layoffs, employed over 400 developers. The studio has functioned as co-developer and provided development support on a number of major releases in recent years, including the likes of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Diablo 4, and more.

Amidst its restructuring program, Embracer Group has reportedly also put Gearbox Entertainment itself up for sale, while studios like Saints Row developer Volition and TimeSplitters developer Free Radical Design have been shuttered entirely. Additionally, the likes of Crystal Dynamics, New World Interactive, 3D Realms, Slipgate Ironworks, and Fishlabs have suffered layoffs as well.

No part of the games industry has been immune to the devastating wave of layoffs that continued all throughout 2023, with the likes of Epic Games, Microsoft, Bungie, and many others having made significant cuts. Sadly, that trend has continued in 2024 as well. Recently, for instance, game engine developer Unity announced that it was laying off a quarter of its entire workforce, amounting to roughly 1,800 jobs.

Lost Boys Interactive currently has a staff of over 220 people, but plans to expand to 350 within the next couple of years. The studio recently served in a support capacity as a co-developer on Gearbox’s recently-released Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands.

We founded Lost Boys with a dream to work on products that would be globally recognized and loved,” said Lost Boys’ CEO and co-founder Shaun Nivens. “We’re incredibly excited to join Gearbox and continue doing what we do best — making amazing games that entertain and inspire others.”

A little over a year ago, Gearbox Entertainment was acquired by Embracer Group, the parent company of number of other publishing labels, including the likes of THQ Nordic, Deep Silver, Saber Interactive, and more. Embracer recently stated that it would continue to invest heavily in more acquisitions in the near future- read more on that through here.

It's time to embrace more talents! @FlyLostBoys, the US-based video game studio working on both co-development for top-tier games and original IP for PC and consoles, with a team of 220+ is joining the family as a subsidiary to @GearboxOfficial. A warm welcome to the Group! https://t.co/F3RZKiW4JE

— Embracer Group (@embracergroup) April 21, 2022