Art and narrative departments affected
Workers at Reflector Entertainment, the Montreal studio that recently released third-person action adventureUnknown 9: Awakening, have been hit by layoffs, according to a number of employees who made the cuts public on social media. The studio is owned by Bandai Namco and released the game about a month ago. The exact number of people out of work isn’t known, as Reflector haven’t made a public statement about it. (Update:Astatement from Reflectorsays the layoffs amount to 18% of the total workforce). Among those affected are folks working in art, design, UI, lighting, and narrative.
The layoffs were spotted by Kotaku reporter Ethan Gach, who pointed it outon Bluesky. Sure enough, a glance at LinkedIn shows several game workers announcing they are looking for new jobs. Among those I’ve seen are a 3D modeller, character artist, UI programmer, community manager, lighting expert, game designer, narrative designer, and a senior environment artist. That range of roles suggests the layoffs are widespread, affecting all departments.
For the real people affected, however, it may simply feel like more brutal cost-cutting. Bandai Namco have recently beenaxing jobsin their Japanese studios (via a very unpleasant method ifreports by Bloombergare accurate). Early this year they alsocancelled several gamesdue to “higher than expected” development costs.
Former RPS editor Katharine Castle continues to earn her reputation asa hellish prophet, afterplaying a previewof the game earlier this year and speaking to the studio’s head of production Jean-Francois Deschamps. During which she suspected the game’s final months of creation would be a challenge.
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s probably because something similar happened recently with multiplayer shooterConcord. After a financially disastrous launch, the studio behind the game wasunceremoniously shut downby parent company Sony earlier this month. Once again, it is the workers who are most impacted when big companies get over-excited.
