Company Behind Ghostrunner Publisher Lays Off Staff

Digital Bros, the company behind publisher 505 Games, has laid off 30% of its staff. 505 Games is best known for publishing games such as Control, Ghostrunner and its sequel, Abzu, and the PC version of Death Stranding.

In a press release, Digital Bros confirmed the layoffs, saying, "In order to prioritize high-quality and long-standing successful titles, Digital Bros has reconsidered the number of projects under development and as such, will review the organization structure accordingly to align with the evolving competitive environment in the medium to long-term to ensure maximum operational efficiency."

The company continued, "The restructuring program is expected to represent a reduction of approximately 30% of the global workforce, with the predominant portion concentrated within the studios."

Digital Bros mentioned that the video game industry has evolved since the pandemic in that consumers have been more selective with new games, as well as going back to well-established franchises and playing the same games for longer periods of time. As such, the company will focus on releasing sequels and new versions of already successful games, with only a limited budget for new larger projects.

The video game industry has been crushed by layoffs this year. Just yesterday, Amazon Games laid off 180 employees. Other big publishers such as Bungie, BioWare, and Ubisoft have also let employees go.

The latest title from 505 Games is Ghostrunner 2, which was released last month. 505 Games is also publishing Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes and it is due out on April 23, 2024.