Smilegate Barcelona reportedly closed and all employees let go | VGC
The studio was established in 2020 to work on an open-world game…
www.videogameschronicle.com
Smilegate Barcelona, the studio established in 2020 to develop an open-world AAA console title, has reportedly been closed and all employees let go.
- Thread starter Gamernyc78
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www.videogameschronicle.com
It doesn't suprise me.
As a reference, I know some people who worked there creating and starting the studio (in 2019, not in 2020 as the article says). One left some time later to create and lead the studio who developed and released the recent Lords of the Fallen. Other one left more recently to create and co-lead a Netease AAA studio with a Remedy design director and should reveal their first game this year. Other one left to join an artsy AA indie team and made and released a whole game. Other one left to another AAA team and also had time to release another game.
Meanwhile, as far as I know Smilegate Barcelona still haven't released their first game, which was an open world AAA. A couple more who I know did work there a handful years ago didn't have good words for a "former Ubisoft boss" (I assume Stephane) they had there.
Let's hope people get a new job somewhere else.
As a reference, I know some people who worked there creating and starting the studio (in 2019, not in 2020 as the article says). One left some time later to create and lead the studio who developed and released the recent Lords of the Fallen. Other one left more recently to create and co-lead a Netease AAA studio with a Remedy design director and should reveal their first game this year. Other one left to join an artsy AA indie team and made and released a whole game. Other one left to another AAA team and also had time to release another game.
Meanwhile, as far as I know Smilegate Barcelona still haven't released their first game, which was an open world AAA. A couple more who I know did work there a handful years ago didn't have good words for a "former Ubisoft boss" (I assume Stephane) they had there.
Let's hope people get a new job somewhere else.
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Weekly layoffs maybe but no real losses in regards to whole studios. As far as AAA goes its this studio and the one that Sony poached, but neither have actually released anything so were they really building AAA games or were they building limited interest battlepass bullshit. We're 1/3rd of the way through the year and off the top of my head I can't think of a single high profile studio that shut down.
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A few studios tht got created and werent even given the chance to come out with something.
As reference, here in Barcelona we have offices from King, Scopely (you may heard recently about Monopoly Go), Gameloft, Ubisoft, Zeptolab, IGG, Bandai Namco, Social Point (bought by Take 2) or Digital Legends (bought by Activision, made CoD Warzone mobile) and many others.
In AAA/AA there's here Ubisoft, IO Interactive, Infinity Ward, THQ Nordic, Netease, Paradox, plus many people working remotely for EA or Riot. Plus a ton of indie studios.
2022 data (this summer we'll get the 2023 one) about Spanish gaming industry (Facturación = revuenue, empresas = companies, empeados = employees, Alemania = Germany, Suecia = Sweden, Paises Bajos = Netherlands, Fact. por empresa = avg. revenue per company)
Half of the studios are either in Madrid (center) or Barcelona (north east) regions:
Only 5% of the Spanish gamedev studios have over 50 employees, 34% over 10 employees.
Half of the Spanish gamedev employement is in the Barcelona region:
Not sure which was the current Scopely Barcelona size. I'd bet at some point became over 100 people, but I'd say recently were maybe around 40-60 people.
In AAA/AA there's here Ubisoft, IO Interactive, Infinity Ward, THQ Nordic, Netease, Paradox, plus many people working remotely for EA or Riot. Plus a ton of indie studios.
2022 data (this summer we'll get the 2023 one) about Spanish gaming industry (Facturación = revuenue, empresas = companies, empeados = employees, Alemania = Germany, Suecia = Sweden, Paises Bajos = Netherlands, Fact. por empresa = avg. revenue per company)
Half of the studios are either in Madrid (center) or Barcelona (north east) regions:
Only 5% of the Spanish gamedev studios have over 50 employees, 34% over 10 employees.
Half of the Spanish gamedev employement is in the Barcelona region:
Not sure which was the current Scopely Barcelona size. I'd bet at some point became over 100 people, but I'd say recently were maybe around 40-60 people.
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Nice info, thnks.2022 data (in Summer we'll get the 2023) about Spanish gaming industry (Facturación = revuenue, empresas = companies, empeados = employees, Alemania = Germany, Suecia = Sweden, Paises Bajos = Netherlands, Fact. por empresa = avg. revenue per company)
Half of the studios are either in Madrid (center) or Barcelona (north east) regions:
Only 5% of the Spanish gamedev studios have over 50 employees, 34% over 10 employees.
Half of the Spanish gamedev employement is in the Barcelona region:
The era of AAA Hollywood blockbuster has come to an end. It just not anymore sustainable, to pay $150-350M for a single game. Time to return to cool amd creative games. I welcome that.
Oh, there was also the BF campaign team but, once again, they never shipped a completed game.
Nah. As always some studios shut down, more studios open. Some people get fired (this time more than usual), more people get hired or create a new studio.
We'll see the 2023 numbers in a few months, but until now the number of studios and workers kept growing.
And particularly AAA studios. As a reference, at the end of FY22 Bungie had 826 full time employees, and now has over 1500, doubled their side even if almost half a year ago reduced from 1200 to 1100 firing around 100 people.
Smilegate did shut down this studio but pretty likely will create or acquire another one somewhere. And most of the people fired in the shut down studio will get hired in some other local company.
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AAA Games will still exist it's just that all companies can't pull them off. GT6 will release and cost a gazillion but will sell a gazillion more and the next one will cost a crazy amount all the same. You take tht polish and attention from some of those games and they won't be the same games and sales will drop.
We're still in the FY 23 of many companies, so I'd wait a bit.
Could have quite a few surprises in the next few days and in April/May.
Some devs tell me that now became official, but the studio was already shut down, and workers new it some time before.
The problem are the average AAA games, which with budgets of around $150M in many cases already struggled to sell like around 5M copies to break even.
They need to do something to get more revenue from somewhere else and/or to lower the costs like making games shorter, get help from IA to do part of the job, etc.
Because at the current pace only a few AAA studios and publishers will be able to stay healthy.
Yes. I mean, a game like Spider-Man 2 can handle a $300M budget because let's say they get on average $30 per copy, so need to sell 10M units to achieve it and these Spider-Man games sell like over 20M copies.
The problem are the average AAA games, which with budgets of around $150M in many cases already struggled to sell like around 5M copies to break even.
They need to do something to get more revenue from somewhere else and/or to lower the costs like making games shorter, get help from IA to do part of the job, etc.
Because at the current pace only a few AAA studios and publishers will be able to stay healthy.
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I think we'll get the Gearbox divestment by April's end, though once again that doesn't neccissary mean any studios will close (none did when Saber left.)
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Here we go....
On January 22, 2024, Riot Games announced a significant restructuring, leading to the layoff of 530 employees, which accounts for about 11% of the company's total workforce. The company also shut down Riot Games' indie publishing label, Riot Forge. The decision was made as part of Riot's strategy to refocus on fewer, high-impact projects, aiming for a more sustainable future.[86]
On January 25, 2024, Microsoft Gaming underwent a substantial restructuring, resulting in the layoff of 1,900 staff. Additionally, the President of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Ybarra, and Blizzard's co-founder and chief design officer, Allen Adham, departed from the company. As part of the restructuring, Microsoft Gaming canceled Blizzard Entertainment's game Project Odyssey and laid off major teams working on Overwatch 2.[7] Microsoft Gaming Studios such as Toys for Bob and Sledgehammer Games reportedly experienced a loss of over 30% of their staff due to layoffs. The majority of those laid off were from Activision Blizzard.[87][88]
On January 29, 2024, Eidos-Montréal laid off around 97 staff members as part of the ongoing restructuring within the Embracer Group. Additionally, the company reportedly canceled its new Deus Ex game, which had reportedly been in development for two years. Eidos-Montréal cited the global economic context, industry challenges, and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer as reasons for the impact on their studio.[89]
On February 28, 2024, Electronic Arts (EA) announced the layoff of 670 staff members. EA's CEO, Andrew Wilson, outlined the company's focus on owned IP, sports, and massive online communities as part of its business advancement. Additionally, EA shut down Ridgeline Games and canceled a Star Wars single player game developed by Respawn Entertainment.[90][91] These cuts included 23 jobs at Respawn that were announced in March 2024.[92]
2024edit
Januaryedit
At the beginning of the year, Unity Technologies, Twitch, Playtika, and Discord each announced separate layoffs affecting 1,800, 500, 400, and 170 jobs, respectively.[8][83][84][85] Unity attributed its layoffs to a restructuring aimed at refocusing on its core business for long-term profitability.[8] Twitch's CEO mentioned that despite paying out over $1 billion to streamers the previous year, the company's size didn't align with its growth trajectory.[83]On January 22, 2024, Riot Games announced a significant restructuring, leading to the layoff of 530 employees, which accounts for about 11% of the company's total workforce. The company also shut down Riot Games' indie publishing label, Riot Forge. The decision was made as part of Riot's strategy to refocus on fewer, high-impact projects, aiming for a more sustainable future.[86]
On January 25, 2024, Microsoft Gaming underwent a substantial restructuring, resulting in the layoff of 1,900 staff. Additionally, the President of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Ybarra, and Blizzard's co-founder and chief design officer, Allen Adham, departed from the company. As part of the restructuring, Microsoft Gaming canceled Blizzard Entertainment's game Project Odyssey and laid off major teams working on Overwatch 2.[7] Microsoft Gaming Studios such as Toys for Bob and Sledgehammer Games reportedly experienced a loss of over 30% of their staff due to layoffs. The majority of those laid off were from Activision Blizzard.[87][88]
On January 29, 2024, Eidos-Montréal laid off around 97 staff members as part of the ongoing restructuring within the Embracer Group. Additionally, the company reportedly canceled its new Deus Ex game, which had reportedly been in development for two years. Eidos-Montréal cited the global economic context, industry challenges, and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer as reasons for the impact on their studio.[89]
Februaryedit
On February 27, 2024, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the layoff of 900 employees across various studios. The company attributed the decision to restructure operations in response to the evolving economic landscape and changes in product development, distribution, and launch strategies. Layoff timelines will vary by location. Additionally, PlayStation's London Studio will be closed entirely.[9]On February 28, 2024, Electronic Arts (EA) announced the layoff of 670 staff members. EA's CEO, Andrew Wilson, outlined the company's focus on owned IP, sports, and massive online communities as part of its business advancement. Additionally, EA shut down Ridgeline Games and canceled a Star Wars single player game developed by Respawn Entertainment.[90][91] These cuts included 23 jobs at Respawn that were announced in March 2024.[92]
| Montreal | February 29, 2024 | 97 | ~20% | [89] |
| Supermassive Games | February 26, 2024 | 90 | ~30% | [99] |
| Free Radical Design | December 11, 2023 | 80 | ~100% | [100] |
| Reikon Games | January 25, 2024 | 70 | ~80% | [101] |
| NCSoft West | February 2, 2024 | 70 | ~20% | [102] |
| Netmarble | January 19, 2024 | 70 | Unknown | [103] |
| Sega of America | March 8, 2024 | 61 | ~10% | [104] |
They will exist but become less presently. Big IPs like FF, GTA, Elder Scrolls, DMC will continue to have big budgets. Though I think Sony will put an end to huge budgets. Hence why Hiroki Totoki critized PlayStation Studios exploding budgets. The new norm will be something between AA-AAA.
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More info from a trusted and proper gaming journalist:
- They had the office at the iconic dildo-shaped building Torre Glories (not cheap, and as a fun fact Facebook also has its worldwide censorship HQ there)
- Around a year ago were around 70 people, they did shut down being 50
- Workers knew it since late 2023
- In recent months things were complicated because several workers didn't have assigned tasks to do
- Were working on a new AAA open world IP, but due to issues with project direction and communication with the Korean HQ the project didn't work out
- In recent years they started 3 different projects which suffered direction issues and a clear lack of leadership
Right, but like I said it has been much more layoffs than closures.
For closures you have the Blizzard survival game (might as well be a closure due to team size), potentially a similar result at Sledgehammer Australia, who were working on a "new IP" when owned by Activision (we never got clarification there on whether MS kept it going but I doubt it), Ridgeline from EA, Sony London, Deviation games and then this group which Yurinka claims didn't even have a staff of over 100 so I don't know how you can claim their project was AAA.
Pound for pound we lost more studios last year and, due to Embracer, the indication is that we pound for pound lost more games too.