UK-based studio Playtonic, known for the Yooka-Laylee series, is the latest studio to see layoffs in the industry following mass social media posts from now-former employees.
Some of those who have lost their jobs have been shared on LinkedIn by a Playtonic employee, listing multiple people from various parts of the company, including production, art, VFX, and junior positions. More layoffs might be revealed over time, but it stresses the turbulent times in our industry currently, with job losses sadly becoming the norm across big and indie studios alike.
Playtonic Games was originally founded in 2014 by previous Rare devs who created Yooka-Laylee as a spiritual successor to the Banjo-Kazooie series. Since then, the studio has mainly gone into publishing under Playtonic Friends and has been looking to release a remake of their first game, called Yooka-Replayee, sometime in 2025.
Playtonic Friends has also published many charming games these past years, including Lil Gator Game, and was lining up a release for Castle Pixel's Cattle Country sometime this year. It is unclear how these layoffs will affect Playtonic in making games and publishing at this time, or if there are more to come.
It's a pretty dire time for the industry, with Playtonic Games just one in a long line of studios announcing layoffs, game cancellations, and more dire news. More recently, EA also announced a large layoff round that affected 'hundreds' of employees and saw multiple game cancellations, including a rumored Titanfall project.
Microsoft also reportedly opted for a layoff of three percent of its workforce this May, representing its biggest round of cuts since 2023. It's unclear if this layoff will affect its gaming division or other parts of the company as a whole.
It's a pretty dire time, Destructoid. Motivation and willpower are at an all-time low across the industry, and no one appears safe. But let's try to keep some positivity and support each other as best we can—it's the least we can do.
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