This week, the CEO of Polish developer People Can Fly has shared some unfortunate news about the Gears of War: Judgment and Outriders studio. As a result of "external market pressures", People Can Fly is "restructuring some supporting teams" - resulting in the loss of 120 employees overall.
CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski has put out a lengthy statement on the news, ending with the message that the studio "will not give up on our dreams" despite the loss of this many staff members. We'll throw the full People Can Fly statement down below:
"Today, we made a very difficult decision to reduce our self-publishing strategy by suspending Project Victoria, scaling down our team on Project Bifrost and restructuring some of our supporting teams at People Can Fly.
We are deeply saddened by the fact that this situation means suspending or parting ways with more than 120 talented Aviators, colleagues who we enjoyed having as part of our team.
This action became necessary as external market pressures persisted beyond our forecasts. The video game market is still evolving, and we have to adjust with where things are today. We are redoubling our efforts with new work for hire engagements and focusing on the development of a single independent game.
We believe in our teams, games and their potential, and we remain extremely committed to continuing that journey, but we need to tailor our plans to our financial capacity.
We are deeply grateful for the contributions of every team member impacted by this turn of events; their talent and dedication have helped shape our company and our games. These changes are deeply felt by all of us.
We recognize this is a profoundly challenging time for our team members, as we say goodbye to valued colleagues who have contributed so much. We are focused on supporting those impacted during this transition providing them with resources and assistance to navigate this change, and are equally committed to caring for those staying, who are managing the challenges of losing coworkers and friends. Our priority is to approach this moment with compassion and to ensure our team feels supported as we work together to build a stronger future.
In this hard moment our dedication to excellence and creativity remains as strong as ever. For everyone who loves what we create - we will not give up on our dreams."
Sebastian Wojciechowski
CEO
In summer 2023, Xbox entered an agreement with People Can Fly to make 'Project Maverick' - an upcoming AAA title with a reported $30-50 million budget. Right now, we're unsure if this will be affected, but it sounds like 'Project Victoria' and Project Bifrost' — both mentioned in the above statement and also separate to the below Square Enix project — will be the most affected by these layoffs.