2023 was sadly the year that saw thousands of jobs in the games industry being cut due to industry-wide layoffs, and unfortunately, that’s continued in the early days of 2024 as well. The latest to join that list is Thunderful Group, the company that publishes and develops the SteamWorld series and owns the likes of Image and Form Games, Rising Star Games, Zoink, Coatsink, Jumpship, and Headup Games.
Thunderful Group has announced that it’s laying off 20% of its workforce. The company’s website says it employs over 500 employees, which would mean about 100 jobs will be cut.
Thunderful is attributing the need for layoffs to several “over-investments” that it made in recent years that it says “have proven unsustainable given the current industry climate, which has resulted in the Group being particularly affected by challenging market conditions.” Going forward, the company will “focus its efforts on the strategic assets with the best long-term prospects.”
“Since I joined as CEO in the fall of 2023, we have evaluated the current business and the future position of Thunderful,” said Thunderful Group CEO Martin Walfisz said in a statement. “To ensure and strengthen the viability of the Group, we have found no alternative other than to reduce costs and focus the business on areas with the best future growth and profitability prospects. To ensure and strengthen the viability of the Group, we have found no alternative other than to reduce costs and focus the business on areas with the best future growth and profitability prospects. It has been difficult to make these decisions, and it saddens me that we will have to say goodbye to many skilled colleagues and partners. Nevertheless, I am convinced that this is a necessary direction for Thunderful and that these changes will make the company a stronger player in the market.”
Thunderful is hoping that its restructuring program will allow it to “strengthen” its “long-term competitive position”. In addition to staff reductions, as part of its restructuring program, the company will also look into divesting “non-strategic” assets.
Earlier this month, game engine developer Unity announced that it was also laying off 25% of its staff, amounting to roughly 1,800 jobs. More recently, Gearbox Entertainment-owned Lost Boys Interactive also laid off “a sizeable portion” of its workforce amidst widespread layoffs across parent company Embracer Group. Other companies like Discord and Twitch have also already made significant staff reductions in 2024.