Ballistic Moon Faces Layoffs Ahead of Until Dawn Remake Release in October

[John Elden Ring]

Ballistic Moon Faces Layoffs Ahead of Until Dawn Remake Release in October

Ballistic Moon, the developers of Until Dawn Remake, have laid off a number of developers before the game's launch on October 4th, 2024.

insider-gaming.com

Ballistic Moon, the developers of Until Dawn Remake, have laid off an undisclosed number of developers before the game’s launch on October 4th, 2024.

Stuart Campbell, a Game Programmer at Ballistic Moon, said, “Hi everyone, Unfortunately, my current role at Ballistic Moon is being made redundant, so I’m looking for new opportunities. If you have any roles you think I might be suited for, please get in touch.”

Cassy Cornish, a Junior Game Designer at the studio said, “Like many others in this wonderful but turbulent industry, I am sadly being made redundant from my role as a Junior Game Designer at Ballistic Moon. The team have been wonderful and I’m so excited for our game to release in October!”

 

[Bryank75]

This is ridiculous...

They haven't even released the game and were forced to release it at full price.

What a mess.

 

[Etifilio]

this is a studio Sony should actually invest, this could be the Survival Horror studio

 

[Yurinka]

Five people being fired at the same time at the start of September sounds to me as them not making the cut in the yearly appraisals of the studio.

Maybe they did it now around a month before release, now that the game may have reached gold status or would reach it a few days, so it's a good moment to let go people, specially those in roles that who won't be needed for a while.

 

[mibu no ookami]

Could be nothing or it could be something. We just don't really know based on the lack of details. It looks like it was at least a 10% RIF, probably about 8-10 people. Could have been people who were underperforming/didn't meet deadlines or expectations.

It could be bad news for the game that hasn't received a ton of advertising or press.

It could also be the studio preparing to be bought out by Sony, but Sony wanting the studio to trim beforehand.

The timing of the game is always something you worry about. They had an October deadline to beat out Halloween and that means they didn't just release the game anytime they wanted, which could suggest bugs and other issues are likely.

The game releases in about 2 weeks and we've seen very little of it.

I had hoped that this team could absorb employees from Supermassive Games and maybe these layoffs are part of that strategy to bring more senior developers to the studio now that the game is completed or maybe the game is just a complete flop and Sony wants nothing more to do with the studio and wants to largely bury the game. If that's the case, I'm surprised they announced the game when they did and didn't delay or cancel it.

Then you still have Lego Horizon coming out this year or scheduled to, which also isn't getting a ton of marketing, but neither did Astro Bot outside of some conferences.

 

[mibu no ookami]

this is a studio Sony should actually invest, this could be the Survival Horror studio

Yeah, I think that would be the hope is to build them out. Maybe that happens or maybe it doesn't. I think this is the problem with games needing 80+ metacritics, is that teams really don't get second chances as often these days, especially if they are external, but also not sure how you screw up a remake.

Everyone said that this game didn't need a remake, but the original game was a mess. 1080p, sub-30 fps.

Using decima would have been difficult for this new studio, but using unreal engine is probably why the price is as high as it is. 40 dollars would have probably been an easier entry point, though 60 suggests confidence in the product.