Hi-Rez Studios, the developers of Smite and Smite 2, is the next studio holding layoffs during a year full of them.
The announcement came via a Twitter post by Hi-Rez CEO Stewart Chisam. In his lengthy message, he said that the decision to layoff “some team members” comes with a “focus on positioning SMITE 2 for a long and sustainable future.”
“Today, we’re making some difficult but necessary changes to ensure Hi-Rez’s long-term success, with a specific focus on positioning SMITE 2 for a long and sustainable future,” Chisam said.
While there was no mention of just how many people would be let go due to the “internal reorganization and reprioritization”, Chisam says that it will “disproportionately” involve people in marketing and publishing positions. He added that it will impact people from Evil Mojo, G&A, and Titan Forge divisions of the company.
He also said that the layoffs show a “failure” in his leadership at the company.
“This news has a real human impact at a tough time for workers in this industry,” he said. “Each impacted individual is a talented and dedicated professional who has poured their heart and soul into our games. Letting them go is a heartbreaking decision, reflects a failure in my leadership, and one for which I take personal accountability.”
Why The Hi-Rez Layoffs Now?
Chisam says that the layoffs come after a “comprehensive review” of the company’s strategy. The decision was made to put full efforts into Smite 2 moving forward with small teams remaining to support the original Smite and Paladins. He then says that the development team on Smite 2 remains larger than the first game.
“Notably, the core dev team currently working on Smite 2 after these changes is still a significant size: Larger than the Smite 1 team was throughout most of its lifecycle (outside of a period during and shortly after the pandemic),” he said. “The team working on gods and gameplay features (versus skins and monetization/progression/system features) is larger than the SMITE 1 team ever was for such features.”
Chisam closed his statement saying that that he believed the changes were necessary albeit difficult, and that the company will “emerge stronger from them”.
Through the first nine months of 2024, the gaming industry as seen nearly 13,000 known positions lost across nearly 150 companies.
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