Update: In a follow-up report from Aftermath’s Nathan Grayson, recordings taken of a meeting where Humble Games employees were informed of the layoffs, along with statements from now-former staff, appear to contradict the company’s official stance that it is a “restructuring”.
The report found that everything roles at Humble Games were actually affected, and that the remaining publishing projects will be completed by The Powell Group, a third-party company.
“Ziff is trying to spread the idea that it’s a restructuring to save face, but that’s a lie,” said one employee on condition of anonymity. “No one from HG survived the layoffs, nor will they have anything to do with game launches moving forward.”
“The operations have been handed over to a third-party consultancy. No staff left,” one former employee wrote on LinkedIn. “Don’t believe this tailored message written by Humble Games’ parent company, Ziff Davis, who are trying to tone down the backlash. This was once again a failure of leadership across the board, and once again talented, hard working staff are paying the price for their poor decisions. Every ex-employee is getting fired up by this narrative and it’s so disrespectful.”
Original story: In yet another devastating blow to the state of the video game industry and the indie scene in particular, IGN/Ziff Davis-owned indie publisher Humble Games has gone bust, with staff laid off and the future of the company unclear.
A senior QA employee for the company took to social media this morning to share that they and “all” of Humble Games’ 36 staff had been laid off, with some reports that the staff called it a “total shutdown” of Humble Games (not to be confused with Humble Bundle, of which the company is a subsidiary and which appears to be unaffected).
However, in the last few hours, Humble Games released a statement which suggests that it will not be shutting down completely, but will see its operations “restructured” as it prioritizes the support of its former staff during this transition as well as to its current development partners – although the statement did not clarify whether anyone still works at the company. company only released Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus last week and has several major releases on the way, including Never Alone 2, Billie Bust Up, and Monaco 2.
In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was not taken lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with a view to ensuring stability…
— Humble Games – B?: Path of the Teal Lotus OUT NOW (@PlayHumbleGames) July 23, 2024
“In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations.” said the company’s statement. “This decision was not taken lightly; it involved a lot of careful discussion and thought, with the aim of ensuring stability and support for our developers and ongoing projects. Additionally, the restructuring of operations at Humble Games will have no impact on operations at Humble Bundle.
“We are very aware of the profound impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and we deeply empathize with all those affected. Our team’s contributions have been world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we began publishing in 2017. We are committed to navigating this transition with as much sensitivity and understanding as possible.
“Supporting our development partners and helping former team members remains our top priority. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved. Thank you for your support and compassion during this challenging time. It is deeply appreciated.”
Humble Games has been responsible for helping release some of the most memorable games of recent years, including more than a few Aussie-made efforts like Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, Unpacking, and Ring of Pain. It is a great shame to see it affected by the challenges in space and we sincerely hope that those affected are able to land safely.