In recent years, the gaming industry has faced significant challenges marked by numerous game closures, staff layoffs, and studio shutdowns. Sadly, Double Loop Games, a US-based, women-led mobile game studio co-founded by Emily Greer and Shelby Moledina, has announced its closure after four years in the industry, before its first game could even be fully released.
Double Loop Games was founded in early 2020 with the aim of creating relaxing games for mobile players who don’t consider themselves hardcore gamers. The studio had completed a $2.5 million seed round with investments from prominent names such as Supercell and Unity to support its debut game. Later, this game, which is a hybrid puzzle and social game, received further investments from Hiro Capital, Garena, and Riot Games.
Although the debut title is currently in soft launch (albeit unnamed), the unfortunate closure of the studio suggests that it may never see a full release. Emily Greer announced in a LinkedIn post that the closure was due to the “hostile funding and marketing environment” faced by many small studios in 2023.
However, not all staff will be left without job prospects as Scopely, the maker of Monopoly Go, has extended an invitation to onboard most team members to “a new project” within the casual GSN studio. As for Greer and Moledina, they plan to take some time off before embarking on their next projects.
