Outriders Developer People Can Fly Cancels Two Projects Says Will Scale Down Teams
A storm is brewing over the Polish powerhouse People Can Fly: the developers of the electric mayhem that was Bulletstorm and contributors to Gears of War: Judgment. With Outriders running in the unfavorable direction, the developer has now stalled two secret projects before they could really get off the ground. People Can Fly will now cut back teams because of creative differences with publishers and a shrinking war chest. The news comes after a difficult year during which more than 150 employees had been laid off in previous rounds of cuts. The future hangs in the balance for this formerly high-flying studio.
People Can Fly Cancels 2 Games
Two secret projects, Gemini and Bifrost, were shut down by People Can Fly, according to CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski, who posted about it on Sunday on LinkedIn. The cut was sudden and shut down two enigmatic games left on the edge of mystery, leaving fans to wonder what might have been.
Today, Wojciechowski announced the terrible sunset of Bifrost and Gemini projects. The market will attest after they send off the last report explaining their fate.
“Project Gemini is grounded. We are awaiting the Publisher to come in with the next chapter-which is the content rider that shall lay forth the future milestones. Until then, Gemini is in a state of limbo, with of course, any commitment of either going forward or putting an end to the project from their side.”
Project Bifrost is frozen. Reality check: our cash flow paints a gloomy picture. If a miracle does not happen, funding is impossible, and the launch of Bifrost becomes unattainable.
From the executive’s reference to cutbacks came also mention of a corporate restructuring: a move that typically precedes layoffs. In the unspoken air: Just how many jobs are we looking at?
Goodbye-the hardest of all. We´re scaling down our studio, an incredibly hard move and one that requires bidding goodbyes to some valued team members. We are so very sorry that this had to happen to them. A big thank-you to everyone who poured in their blood, sweat, and tears into this journey.
While Wojciechowski revealed nothing about the publisher, the gaming set was abuzz with speculation: Maybe it was Square Enix, People Can Fly’s partner on the explosive co-op shooting game,Outriders? Add to that the fact that the studio is also doing many other big-ticket projects like the hotly anticipatedGears of War: E-Dayfor Xbox Game Studios and a more secret one for Sony codenamed “Delta,” and one can only hope for something truly special in the making.
Layoffs in Games industry
The year record was turbulent for People Can Fly. In January 2024 alone, with a reported wave of over 30 layoffs, the year began somewhat tumultuously. The storm further intensified in December when Wojciechowski of the company declared the suspension of a key project, leading to a mass retrenchment of over 120 employees-Putting a grim exclamation point on a year already filled with more than 150 earlier job losses.
More storms are fluttering over the gaming industry: following a series of big-name game cancellations and studio closures, yet another wave of issues is washing ashore. This time, it’s the axe time for [Studio Name]. The news came hot on the heels of EA’s cancellation of Black Panther and a fresh round of layoffs. It’s a truly grim hat trick for EA – the third cut this year with plenty of questions on what remains for tomorrow.
February witnessed a massacre at Warner Bros., three game studios suffering execution, including Monolith. Among the worthy casualties fell the long-gestating Wonder Woman game, now consigned to extinction on the cutting floor.
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