Employees Say ‘Sizable Portion’ Of Gearbox-Owned Studio Has Been Laid Off

[Gamernyc78]

Employees Say ‘Sizable Portion’ Of Gearbox-Owned Studio Has Been Laid Off - Aftermath

"All disciplines at all levels" have been impacted

aftermath.site

On Friday, layoffs hit Lost Boys Interactive, a Gearbox-owned developer that employed over 400 people. While the full scope of the layoffs remains unclear, former employees are saying a “sizable” portion of the company was let go and describing what happened today as “massive” layoffs.

Numerous ex-Lost Boys employees have taken to LinkedIn to share the regrettable news.

“It seems a sizable portion of Lost Boys Interactive was laid off today, including myself,” wrote Jared Pace, a producer at Lost Boys. “Still trying to understand the scope of it all, but sadly this is a song and dance we're all familiar with.”

Pace told Aftermath that layoffs “affected all disciplines at all levels.” As of this publishing, Gearbox and Embracer have not replied to Aftermath’s inquiries about the total number of employees impacted

 

[xollowsob]

 

[Gamernyc78]

It's sad to see so many ppl losing their livelihoods and in limbo. I mean at this point across the industry it's thousands.

 

[xollowsob]

It's sad to see so many ppl losing their livelihoods and in limbo. I mean at this point across the industry it's thousands.

It's currently at hundreds of thousands across Microsoft, Amazon, social media, streaming platforms and games industries.

These companies expanded under COVID, hoping for the numbers to say and so did the people who were hired.

If those employees didn't have back up plans, then that's on them.

 

[shrike0fth0rns]

Employees Say ‘Sizable Portion’ Of Gearbox-Owned Studio Has Been Laid Off - Aftermath

"All disciplines at all levels" have been impacted

aftermath.site

On Friday, layoffs hit Lost Boys Interactive, a Gearbox-owned developer that employed over 400 people. While the full scope of the layoffs remains unclear, former employees are saying a “sizable” portion of the company was let go and describing what happened today as “massive” layoffs.

Numerous ex-Lost Boys employees have taken to LinkedIn to share the regrettable news.

“It seems a sizable portion of Lost Boys Interactive was laid off today, including myself,” wrote Jared Pace, a producer at Lost Boys. “Still trying to understand the scope of it all, but sadly this is a song and dance we're all familiar with.”

Pace told Aftermath that layoffs “affected all disciplines at all levels.” As of this publishing, Gearbox and Embracer have not replied to Aftermath’s inquiries about the total number of employees impacted

Gearbox was overpriced and pretty sure embracer tried to sell them but no one was interested. They had a lot of failures with everything else they’ve tried to make or publish besides BL. Even the BL move is looking like hot garbage.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Gearbox was overpriced and pretty sure embracer tried to sell them but no one was interested. They had a lot of failures with everything else they’ve tried to make or publish besides BL. Even the BL move is looking like hot garbage.

Embracer trying to sell or minimize alot of their acquisitions.

 

[Danja1187]

They were better off with Take Two publishing their games, very unfortunate.

 

[KiryuRealty]

It's sad to see so many ppl losing their livelihoods and in limbo. I mean at this point across the industry it's thousands.

The thing is, that headcount seems really absurd for a support studio, so it’s probably a lot of that COVID hiring rush bloat being eliminated.

Remember, sometimes laying off 30% of your workforce is the only way to avoid going under and putting 100% of your employees out of work. Still sucks for those laid off, though.

 

[Evilnemesis8]

In 2022 it was acquired by Borderlands creator Gearbox, at which point it boasted a headcount of over 220. Gearbox nearly doubled Lost Boys’ size prior to today’s layoffs. But much has changed since 2022: Embracer, which owns Gearbox, bet the house on a $2 billion deal with a Saudi investment group that fell through in 2023. Ever since, its many, many properties have been hit by layoffs on a near-monthly basis.

It just keeps happening with Embracer is run by an idiot who keeps thinking he can grow at an absurd rate by asking Venture Capital for waves and waves of investment, that was always going to run out eventually.

Embracer tells the multiple publishing subsidiaries under them : Yes, keep hiring, we can support you with infinite money. We unlocked a real life hack!
Embracer, a year or two later : Sorry guys, you're going to have to fire all the folks you hired.

Great business acumen here folks, totally not Late Stage Capitalism Kool-aid you've drunk here. I wonder who's going to bare the brunt of the consequence, surely it's those guys at the top wearing the fancy suits. No? How surprising!

 

[KiryuRealty]

It just keeps happening with Embracer is run by an idiot who keeps thinking he can grow at an absurd rate by asking Venture Capital for waves and waves of investment, that was always going to run out eventually.

Embracer tells the multiple publishing subsidiaries under them : Yes, keep hiring, we can support you with infinite money. We unlocked a real life hack!
Embracer, a year or two later : Sorry guys, you're going to have to fire all the folks you hired.

Great business acumen here folks, totally not Late Stage Capitalism Kool-aid you've drunk here. I wonder who's going to bear the brunt of the consequence, surely it's those guys at the top wearing the fancy suits. No? How surprising!

*bear the brunt

 

[EDMIX]

They were better off with Take Two publishing their games, very unfortunate.

Agreed.

They might as well sell the studio.

 

[Danja1187]

Agreed.

They might as well sell the studio.

I can only hope many haven't learnt that consolation is bad for the industry.... I mean us gamers knew but I guess devs were more interested the financial aspects to care? I really don't know why else they all couldn't see from the past instances it rarely ever ends well for their companies.

 

[Kx11]

Wasn't their boss a mean greedy guy who didn't pay his employees ??

 

[Gamernyc78]

Wasn't their boss a mean greedy guy who didn't pay his employees ??

Heard something like tht but not sure if it was Gearbox.

 

[Kx11]

yeah this guy

Update: Gearbox CEO Responds to Massive Lawsuit's Claims - IGN

Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox, and a former general counsel for the game studio are in a legal battle in which the counsel accuses Pitchford of allegedly receiving "a secret $12 million bonus from publisher Take-Two Interactive as an advance against Borderlands profits."

www.ign.com

 

[Zzero]

It just keeps happening with Embracer is run by an idiot who keeps thinking he can grow at an absurd rate by asking Venture Capital for waves and waves of investment, that was always going to run out eventually.

Embracer tells the multiple publishing subsidiaries under them : Yes, keep hiring, we can support you with infinite money. We unlocked a real life hack!
Embracer, a year or two later : Sorry guys, you're going to have to fire all the folks you hired.

Great business acumen here folks, totally not Late Stage Capitalism Kool-aid you've drunk here. I wonder who's going to bare the brunt of the consequence, surely it's those guys at the top wearing the fancy suits. No? How surprising!

They told you they weren't done with the layoffs. What, did you think they were lying?

 

[Killer_Sakoman]

At this rate, I can confirm that the worst is yet to come.