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Sumo Group, which encompasses Still Wakes the Deep publisher Secret Mode among other games, has announced layoffs affecting 15% of its staff.
The business announced the move following an internal message sent to employees today. Like many other companies, it says it’s “not been immune” to some of the difficult changes affecting the games industry recently. Sumo Group adds, “reshaping operations across the business to better navigate the upcoming challenges expected in the coming months is a path we must now take to ensure the security of the business going forward.”
“The difficult decision to reduce our costs across the business in a number of ways is a direct result of these challenges, and unfortunately will include a reduction in the number of people the business can support,” Sumo Group’s statement says. “Every alternate route to limit the impact to our people is being considered but sadly this process of transformation will affect up to 15% of our people across the Group in Canada, UK, Poland, Czech Republic and India.”
The Sumo Group website says it employs more than 1790 people across Sumo Digital and Secret Mode, meaning around 250 employees are affected by today’s layoffs. Polygon reporter Nicole Carpenter reports that the decision may have resulted in the complete closure of Timbre Games. The studio, which was founded to create AAA games for console and PC, opened in 2021. Carpenter adds that it was working on two unannounced projects.
Sumo Group’s statement continues: “This is an incredibly challenging process to go through for everyone at Sumo and our focus is now on supporting our people and working with our partners on their games as we move forward to ensure we emerge from this difficult time, ready for the future.”
Layoffs continue to affect thousands of people across the industry. Take-Two Interactive, Microsoft, Square Enix, EA, Riot Games, Sony, and Avalanche Studios are only a few of the companies to have announced that they would be laying off employees recently. More than 10,000 developers were impacted by layoffs in 2023, and that number is on track to be passed easily in 2024.
You can learn more about why some developers think the industry is going through a historic rough patch here. For a better look at how the layoffs are affecting the people who help bring the industry to life, you can click here.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer at IGN
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