Scribblenauts Dev Lays Off Staff After Cancellation of iOS Game

5th Cell has laid off staff, following the cancellation of Scribblenauts: Fighting Words by its publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

"Unfortunately, due to a project cancellation, we have had to let go of 45 of our very talented staff members today," said chief executive Jeremiah Slaczka, in a statement. "Layoffs aren't something we take lightly and we'd like to thank all our employees for all the hard work and dedication over the years."

Slaczka added that 5th Cell "as a company is not closing down," as indicated by Twitter posts from impacted by the layoffs, but currently the studio is focused "100% on helping our staff make the transition to other external opportunities."

Those interesting in contacting 5th Cell developers with opportunities can do so at jobs@5thcell.com.

Speaking to Polygon, Slaczka added that the game's cancellation by its publisher, Warner Bros., was unexpected.

"WB cancelled [Scribblenauts: Fighting Words] today so we had to lay off the staff. It happened so quick we're not sure what the plans are going forward yet."

The Scribblenauts franchise began life on the Nintendo DS platform, where it garnered much interest as a puzzle game that encouraged coming up with creative solutions. Scribblenauts had a vast library of words that could be typed in, and would spawn the appropriate object in the world for the player to use.

The Scribblenauts franchise later graduated onto the Wii U and branched out onto Apple's iOS. It has also incorporated some iconic properties, such as DC's superheroes.