Cadence Of Hyrule Dev Lays Off Workers, Unannounced Project Shelved

Update: Brace Yourself Games has confirmed with GameSpot that layoffs have taken place, saying senior management "made the incredibly difficult decision to lay off a portion of the company’s staff. This decision was not made lightly, as we deeply value our talented and dedicated employees." It says severance and support services are being provided for those who have been let go, but there's no word on the exact number of people who have been impacted.

As part of the layoffs, "some unannounced internal projects" have been canceled. Development will continue on other games, including Crypt of the NecroDancer: Synchrony, Rift of the NecroDancer, and Phantom Brigade, as well as a still-unannounced game. Brace Yourself Publishing's games will continue with "full support." The original story follows.

Cadence of Hyrule and Crypt of the NecroDancer developer Brace Yourself Games has reportedly laid off half of its workforce.

According to now-former senior producer Crystal Savin, she was only at the studio for four months before being let go. She also mentions that the 43-member studio count was cut by 50%, which would make the total workforce now close to 20 employees.

Furthermore, an ex-employee announced on Twitter that they left the studio earlier this week for a new journey. It's unclear whether they were affected by the layoffs.

Many different studios have laid off employees recently, including Ubisoft, Amazon, Meta, and Phoenix Labs.

Brace Yourself Games is best known for Crypt of the Necrodancer as well as its Legend of Zelda crossover game Cadence of Hyrule. The studio is set to release a spin-off game, Rift of the NecroDancer, sometime this year.

The studio hasn't made any official announcement about layoffs yet. GameSpot has reached out to Brace Yourself Games for comment.