As a long-time gamer with decades of gaming history under my belt, I can’t help but feel a pang of sadness and concern as yet another beloved developer, People Can Fly, has to make the difficult decision to lay off over 120 talented developers. The gaming industry is like a family, and it’s heartbreaking to see so many creative minds leaving due to external market pressures.
Today, Sebastian Wojciechowski, CEO of Polish game developer People Can Fly, has shared that they will be letting go of approximately 120 employees. This move is a part of their adjustment to a self-publishing model, which involves halting the development of Project Victoria, downsizing the staff on Project Bifrost, and reorganizing other supporting teams.
The studio expressed their profound regret that over 120 skilled Aviators, valued coworkers we appreciated working alongside, must either take a leave of absence or depart from our team, as this situation requires it. This was conveyed in a statement shared on the studio’s X (previously known as Twitter) account.
Due to continued external market pressures lasting longer than anticipated in our predictions, it’s essential for us to adapt. The video game industry is constantly changing, so we need to stay flexible. To cope with this evolution, we are increasing our efforts by taking on new work-for-hire projects and concentrating on the creation of a standalone game as our primary focus.
2021 has seen a series of layoffs and studio closures in the gaming industry, with companies like People Can Fly, Ubisoft, Riot Games, Inflexion Games, Xbox, Deck Nine, and Firewalk Studios being affected. This issue has been a recurring challenge for the gaming sector over the last few years.
Detailing the History of People Can Fly
Established back in 2002, People Can Fly tasted its initial success with the first-person shooter game “Painkiller,” released in 2004. In 2007, they lent a hand in transferring the “Gears of War” game to PC platforms and collaborated with Epic Games to create “Bulletstorm.
Between 2013 and 2015, Epic Games Poland was the studio responsible for creating “Gears of War: Judgment” for Xbox 360, and they also contributed to the development of the PVE version, known as “Fortnite: Save the World,” which is a different version from the Battle Royale Fortnite we’re familiar with today.
Following the termination of their collaboration with Epic Games, this studio produced the third-person RPG shooter game “Outriders” in 2021, which was distributed by Square Enix. Prior to its launch, they were already busy developing two more AAA projects. Regrettably, the game received mediocre reviews and struggled to gain traction with audiences. Since then, they have introduced two virtual reality games: “Green Hell VR” in 2022 and “Bullestorm VR” in 2024. These games were created by Incuvo, a new studio called People Can Fly, founded in 2021.
As per the company’s Wikipedia entry, there were six projects underway prior to today’s news release. One of these, Project Victoria, has been put on hold as of today. The project known as Project Maverick showcases one of the company’s contracted assignments. The studio joined forces with Xbox Game Studios in 2023 for this venture, and it carries a budget of between $30-50 million. Another title, Project Gemini, is being developed and will be published by Square Enix, with an anticipated release date in 2026.
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2024-12-10 22:38