As the gaming industry gears up for its highly anticipated night of awards, unfortunate layoffs continue to cast a shadow on the otherwise thriving pastime. The most recent round of job cuts has affected a group of 99 employees at WB Games Montreal.
According to a report from Radio-Canada (via Game Developer), many of the employees who were let go were subcontractors working with Keywords Studios, a company known for providing technical and creative services to gaming companies. Keywords Studios was involved in handling quality assurance for the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League game.
Interestingly, the layoffs at WB Games Montreal coincided with an announcement from Rocksteady that it would no longer be supporting the Suicide Squad game starting January 14. It is worth noting that WB Games Montreal played a role in the development of the game, which was launched just last February but will be discontinued after its upcoming Season 4 Episode 8.
Reports from GamesIndustry.biz suggest that the laid-off employees were given an eight-week notice before their termination. They were reportedly given the option to either join a recall list for future projects or receive assistance from a job counselor. However, the prospects of finding new opportunities through the recall list seem bleak, with no expected openings until 2026.
These recent layoffs add to a string of job cuts in the gaming industry, with companies like Ubisoft, Xbox/Activision Blizzard, and many others also announcing layoffs in recent times. Despite these challenges, the gaming industry is projected to continue its growth trajectory, with revenues expected to surpass $187 billion by 2024.
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