Payload Studios is laying off even more staff, just months after letting go of 25% of the company. The developer of TerraTech has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz (GIBiz) that it is letting go a number of employees after being put in a “very difficult position”.
“It’s true that last week we announced another redundancy round,” CEO and co-founder Russell Clarke told GIBiz. “This has come out of the blue after a project that we were relying on did not materialise, and placed us in a very difficult position.
“The details, including the handling of the notice period and redundancy payments as well as the number of people who will ultimately lose their jobs, are still to be determined – but we had to notify staff last week, to give as much warning as possible to all those who might be affected.”
While Clarke didn’t confirm the number of people let go, GIBiz claims that eight people were let go this time around. Clarke said that his hope was to “give answers” to the staff sometime this week. It’s also being reported that those let go weren’t receiving any sort of redundancy pay.
Sources also told GIBiz that one of Payload’s co-founders was part of the layoffs, though the company wouldn’t confirm which one.
“We are still figuring out the details, but the team that goes forward will need to be very lean,” Clarke said about the future of Payload Studios.
In 2024, there have been roughly 13,500 jobs lost in the games industry across more than 160 companies. The real total is likely higher, however, as some companies didn’t make public how many people had been laid off.
For more Insider Gaming, read about how much money Unity had to spend on layoffs and restructuring this year. And don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
