Humble Games allegedly terminates all employees
All 36 employees at Humble Games have been laid off, according to reports. Former staff members took to social media to share news of the layoffs. Humble Games, owned by media giant Ziff Davis, which also owns IGN, Eurogamer, and GamesIndustry.biz, confirmed a “restructure” in a LinkedIn post, but did not disclose the exact number of jobs affected.
A Humble Games PR representative also confirmed to ReturnByte that the company will not be closing its doors as a result of today’s restructuring. He added that the studio will continue to support and release both current and future projects.
Humble Bundle’s layoffs are the latest in the gaming industry. Last year saw a shocking number of cuts across studios of all sizes, and the trend has sadly continued into 2024.
“The gaming industry is unstable, people who only want exponential growth at the expense of making great games with great teams,” Emilee Kieffer, former lead quality assurance analyst at Humble Games, wrote on LinkedIn after the layoffs.
Well friends, me and the entirety of Humble Games was laid off this morning
If you need senior/lead QA at your game studio HI HELLO I DON’T HAVE A JOB ANYMOOOORE! pic.twitter.com/giAPAiTDsx
— 🎃Emil-EEK!🎃 (@Emilee3D) July 23, 2024
The indie publisher helped launch nearly 50 video games, including major hits like Slay the Spire, Unpacking, Wandersong, and Coral Island. Humble Games also had several upcoming releases, such as Never Alone 2, another delve into the mythology and stories of Alaska’s indigenous people, the Iñupiat.
“This decision was not made lightly; it involved a lot of consideration and careful consideration, with the goal of ensuring stability and support for our developers and ongoing projects,” Humble’s statement said.
That company is a separate operation from the charity shop Humble Bundle, which is also part of Ziff Davis, but doesn’t seem to be affected by today’s news. We’ve reached out to Ziff Davis and Humble Games for more information and will update if we hear back.
