Humble Games, a mid-size indie publisher behind numerous critically acclaimed games, has recently laid off approximately 36 employees, as confirmed by former staff on Tuesday.
The layoffs were announced by former employees on LinkedIn. Emilee Kieffer, a senior QA generalist, mentioned that the entire team had been let go. Associate director of brand marketing Brea Timmerman added that all employees were informed in a meeting that their positions had been terminated.
“The game industry is volatile, it’s been inundated by people who only want exponential growth at the expense of making great games with great teams,” Kieffer wrote on LinkedIn. “But I believe we have the power to create studios that benefit us as game developers and not people that only see us as money-printing machines.”
While some former staff claimed the company had been shut down, a spokesperson for Humble Games told Digital Trends that the layoffs were part of “restructuring” efforts and would not affect Humble Bundle, a digital storefront known for selling discount bundles, or any of its upcoming projects. The spokesperson did not disclose the number of people affected by the layoffs.
Here is the full statement:
In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was made with careful thought and aims to ensure the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects. The restructuring at Humble Games will not impact operations at Humble Bundle.
We recognize the significant impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and empathize deeply with everyone affected. Our team’s contributions have been exceptional, supporting the launch of our games since we began publishing in 2017. We are committed to navigating this transition with empathy and understanding.
Supporting our development partners and assisting former team members remains our top priority. We are dedicated to making this transition as smooth as possible for all those involved. Your support and compassion during this challenging period are greatly appreciated.
Prior to the layoffs, the publisher was still active, releasing Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, a myth-inspired platformer, this week. It is currently working on Wizard of Legend 2, an isometric dungeon crawler with procedural generation, as well as Never Alone 2 and other titles listed on its website.
Humble Games was a partner of the Triple-I initiative, a collective of indie developers and publishers that held its first online presentation during this summer’s gaming showcase.
Humble Games has been associated with some of the top games in recent years, including the horror game Signalis, the charming Unpacking, and the addictive Slay the Spire (with a sequel, Slay the Spire 2, in development but independently published). Another standout title published by Humble was Void Bastards, a roguelike shooter with a humorous twist.
This article has been updated with Humble’s statement, and the status of the studio according to a spokesperson has been clarified.
