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The developer of a number of upcoming virtual reality titles including Sony’s Starship Troopers VR game has suffered a significant round of layoffs amid what it called a "challenging VR gaming market."
XR Games, developer of the poorly received Hitman 3: VR Reloaded as well as the upcoming Zombie Army VR for Rebellion and Starship Troopers: Continuum for Sony, suffered layoffs one former member of staff described as "beyond restructuring."
72 staff were reportedly let go, retaining only 12 out of around 84. The downsizing cast doubt on the launch and support of both Zombie Army VR and Starship Troopers: Continuum, but in a statement issued to IGN, XR Games insisted both would still release later in 2024.
Here’s the statement, from Bobby Thandi, Founder and CEO of XR Games:
“I’m heartbroken that we’re going to be losing some of our incredibly dedicated, talented and valued colleagues. We’ve spent many months carefully exploring alternative solutions in the face of a challenging VR gaming market and a tough broader gaming landscape, and this is one of the hardest business decisions we’ve faced.
“Our priority during and after this consultation process is to treat all team members with the utmost respect and care. We are committed to helping those affected by this through outplacement support, such as CV clinics, portfolio advice, interview preparation and practice, and signposting available jobs in the industry. We also have mental health support available for our staff.
“I’m so very proud of our teams for their hard work on Hitman 3: VR Reloaded, which will continue to receive patch support, as well as Zombie Army VR and Starship Troopers: Continuum, both of which are due for launch this year. We want to be able to develop innovative titles for many years to come, and we’ll work to navigate this transition and shape the future of XR Games.”
Hitman 3: VR Reloaded, developed by XR Games in partnership with Hitman owner IO Interactive, is a standalone port of Hitman VR for the Meta Quest 3 that was supposed to address some of the biggest criticisms of the PC game, like the lack of dual wielding. But it launched to negative reviews from players as well as press, with Eurogamer calling it “about as grim as VR games can get.”
The VR market has struggled. The PSVR2, for example, lost momentum soon after launch despite its technical prowess, though Sony hasn't shared figures since revealing it sold 600,000 within six weeks of its February 2023 launch.
Sony Interactive Entertainment's head of global business Eric Lempel told the Financial Times in December 2023 that VR was "a bit of a challenging category right now." In March, Bloomberg reported that Sony had allegedly paused the production of the PSVR2 to clear the backlog of unsold units it had.
Starship Troopers: Continuum, meanwhile, is due out on Meta Quest 2 and 3 on October 17, 2024, and PSVR2 on October 31, 2024. Zombie Army VR is set for launch on PSVR2, Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro, Oculus Rift, and PC headsets via Steam later in 2024.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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