Summary
Avalanche Studios Group, the creator behind popular action-adventure franchiseJust Cause, has closed down two offices and laid off around 9% of its employees. The move fromAvalanche Studios Groupis the latest setback in what has been a challenging period for the game industry.
In the past few years, layoffs and studio closures have become rampant, affecting even the big brands, such as Xbox, Sony, and Sega. Back in January, thousands of employees got the ax across Unity, Riot Games, Microsoft Gaming, and Eidos-Montreal. Most recently, Rockstar Games parentTake-Two was reported to be shuttering Intercept Gamesstarting later this month.
According to an official announcement, Avalanche Studios Group is laying off 50 employees across its New York and Montreal offices, which are set to be shut down. Surprisingly, the Montreal studio will close its doors just months after it was acquired by theJust Causedeveloper in October 2023. The slashing of jobs means that the conglomerate, which consists of Avalanche Studios, Expansive Worlds, and Systemic Reaction, will cut down its global workforce by almost 9%. With offices in the aforementioned locations closed, the Sweden-based firm will effectively exit North America and have just one overseas office in Liverpool, UK. In its home country, the developer has teams situated in Stockholm and Malmo.
Just Cause Developer Becomes the Latest Victim of Layoff Wave
In its announcement, Avalanche Studios Group described the layoffs as an “exceptionally difficult decision.” It added that the shutdown of its New York and Montreal studios was “necessary” for securing the stability and sustainability of the company. Furthermore, without going into any details, the notice revealed that the firm is focused on assisting its employees during “this challenging time.” Interestingly, these layoffs come months after the employees atAvalanche Studios Group unionizedin late 2023.
BesidesJust Cause, the Swedish company has also shipped other notable games, such asRage 2and therecently abuzzMad Maxvideo game. However, for a considerably long time, it hasn’t tasted significant success in the industry, with its last two major games,Just Cause 4andRage 2, both receiving mixed reception and failing to provide momentum for the developer. Additionally, its smaller projects, such asCall of the Wild: The AnglerandRavenbound, couldn’t find outright success either despite having a comparatively small scope. Its move to shutter studios may be seen as a consequence of these continued setbacks.
Luckily for the fans, Avalanche Studios isworking onContrabandat the moment, which is an open-world co-op game that was first announced in 2021. While it still doesn’t have a release window, fans may expect to get an update about the Xbox exclusive title with multiple showcase events still lined up for this year.
