When it rains, it pours. Sydney’s Blowfish Studios has reportedly conducted “significant layoffs” of its workforce. The news comes from journalist Jackson Ryan, who broke the story via X (formerly Twitter). According to Ryan’s post, sources have suggested over thirty staff members have been impacted. Blowfish Studios is set to launch its new game, Hex Gambit, as of tomorrow.
The news comes after multiple ex-employees of Blowfish Studios took to social media in recent days to confirm they had been made redundant. Staff impacted include multiple game designers, although the full toll of the reported layoffs remains unknown. The studio has yet to make any formal announcement.
The Sydney-based game developer and publisher was founded in 2010 and is currently owned by Animoca Brands. It previously launched Phantom Galaxies, a sci-fi web3 title, into early access in November 2023, and has published titles like Forest Grove and Broken Lines. According to their website, a number of other titles are currently still in the works such as Randomine.
The reported layoffs at Blowfish Studios come only days after Melbourne-based Torus Games (Lego 2K Drive) was reportedly “effectively shuttered,” laying off eight staff and ceasing production. The games industry landscape has been particularly grim in recent years, with layoffs and studio closures seemingly occurring weekly (and sometimes daily). So far, Australian game jobs have trudged along, but alongside news of the major job losses at League of Geeks (Solium Infernum, Jumplight Odyssey) in December, it looks like studios on local shores aren’t faring the storm any more than international developers at this point.
We’ve been keeping track of all industry redundancies as they happen here – to date, there’s been over 8,300 job losses and counting only 65 days into 2024. It paints a pretty bleak picture of where things are headed, that’s for sure. Whether it’s over-investment into new ventures during friendlier economic times, cost of living pressures, or simply a desire for exponential profit growth, layoffs are occurring at breakneck speed as the industry haemorrhages talented folks.
We’ll be keeping our eye out for more official confirmation on the situation at Blowfish Studios, and update this piece accordingly. Our thoughts are with any impacted staff. It’s another rough day for game devs in Australia.
Image: Blowfish Studios
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