Refactor, the studio that helped make FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition for Netflix Games, has laid off nearly all of its staff just months after the game’s release. The layoffs happened because partial owner Delphi Interactive removed funding for the developer.
The layoffs directly affected around 80 employees, according to a report from Insider Gaming. Refactor co-founder and CEO Nathan Burba told GamesBeat this amounted to 85 percent of the studio’s staff.
The decision caught staff by surprise. Delphi reportedly ended funding immediately, according to Insider Gaming, which meant affected employees did not receive severance pay. The layoffs took place on July 31, the last day of the month, leaving no time to respond.
FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition released on June 11, 2026, just in time for the world’s biggest sports competition, but the layoffs hit Refactor less than two months later.
FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition largely went unnoticed by the core gaming audience, potentially because it was exclusive to Netflix. The media giant considered the game a success despite not receiving a lot of critical acclaim, as spotted by GameDeveloper.
“FIFA and Unhinged became our two most successful cloud game debuts,” Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said in an earnings call, pointing to “really solid numbers that put it in the top tier of game performance for [Netflix].”
It’s unclear what the future of Refactor will look like with most of its staff laid off. Insider Gaming pointed out the studio hopes to hire affected staff to work with other projects. The only title featured on Refactor’s website is 2022’s Football Simulator, a Madden competitor still listed as being in early access on Steam.
Delphi’s FIFA venture was largely easy to overlook, but the company is attached to bigger projects. Most notably, it supported IO Interactive with 007: First Light, though its role in development was also largely obscure.
The post Developer that made Netflix’s FIFA World Cup game hit by devastating layoffs appeared first on Destructoid.
