505 parent company Digital Bros has said it expects to lay off 30 per cent of its workforce. The Milan, Italy-based company announced the layoffs on Tuesday as part of an “organisational assessment of development studios and distribution units”.
The studios include Italian studio Kunos Simulazioni (Shenmue Kosa) and UK developer DR Studios (Property Monopoly Tycoon, Terraria).Digital Bros also has offices in the US, France, Spain, Germany, China, Japan, Australia and Canada.
Digital Bros said in a press release:
“Since the outbreak, the video game market has changed in terms of the selectivity of new games, with consumers increasingly favouring established IPs and playing these games for longer periods of time.
Digital Bros’ strategy must adapt to this new and changing competitive landscape and will focus its efforts on releasing sequels and new versions of previously successful, established games, while launching a limited number of new, higher-budget products.
In order to prioritise high-quality and long-term successful game titles, Digital Bros has reconsidered the number of projects in development, and as a result, the organisational structure will be reviewed accordingly to adapt to the changing competitive landscape in the medium to long term and to ensure that the highest level of operational efficiency is achieved.
The restructuring plan is expected to result in a reduction of approximately 30 per cent of the global workforce, the majority of which is focused within the studio.”
Layoffs are common in the gaming industry in 2023. Companies affected by layoffs this year include Xbox Game Studios, Epic Games, SIE, CD Projekt, Unity, Ubisoft, Fist, Blizzard, Crystal Dynamics, BioWare, Striking Distance, Team17, Frontier Developments, Telltale Games, Digital Extremes and Amazon to name a few.
