The creator of the Steamworld franchise, Thunderful Group, announces that it would be laying off staff. The company also said that it was canceling various projects.
The company says that the decision was made as part of its so-called "restructuring." This is already its second in less than a year. It also noted that it saw no other option for it to make sure that the group maintains long-term sustainability and resilience.
Thunderful Group Announces Layoffs
The Thunderful Group first came into existence in 2017 following the merger between Swedish indie developers Image & Form and Zoink. It has since grown and expanded to include several other publishers and developers.
These include Cloud Gardens studio Coatsink as well as Somerville developer Jumpship. The company announced earlier this January that it was also laying off 20% of its workers as part of a restructuring program.
This was something that management believed would result in the strengthening of the group's long-term competitive position. However, it seems like Thunderful Group was not able to reach that particular goal, according to Eurogamer.
The company issued a statement on its website that also divested its distribution business earlier this year. It confirmed that it was undertaking another round of layoffs in order to scale back internal development as well as "double down" on third-party game publishing.
It further explained that the latest decision follows significant reductions in cost levels that were achieved for the company this year. But this was supposedly not enough to meet targets and the Thunderful Group was said to be struggling with negative cash flow.
Part of a Restructuring Effort
The latest round of layoffs is expected to affect roughly 80 to 100 individuals who are part of the company's development team. CEO Martin Walfisz said that the decision was made with "great regret," Rock Paper Shotgun said.
The Thunderful Group said that its shift to focus on external publishing will help it reduce its fixed costs and will allow for greater flexibility. It noted that this would enable faster and more diverse game releases.
The latter is done by leveraging external talent and resources in a balanced manner while also retaining some internal development capacity. It is not yet clear what the latest round of layoffs will mean for the Steamworld franchise in its entirety.
The company's press release noted that the projections for money that it could save from the reductions will result in roughly $7.3 million to $8.2 million.
However, these savings should not be expected to take effect until the first quarter of next year, according to Game Spot.
