Fears have been confirmed: Following its acquisition of Warner Bros. Games, Skydance has begun layoffs in its games division, according to Insider Gaming. Several employees indicate that terminations started last week, affecting positions across the company.
How many layoffs are there at Skydance Games?
Insider Gaming states that at least 30 people have been let go. However, the portal believes the actual number is likely higher. There has been no official confirmation so far: Skydance has not commented on the layoffs, according to Insider Gaming.
What we know largely comes from public posts by those affected and their colleagues:
- Senior Gameplay Engineer Rebecca Vessal wrote that she was not directly affected, but most of her team was.
- Engineer David Vera, who was retained, said Skydance lost “a lot of great talent.” He also named 25 of the affected colleagues.
- Associate Design Director David Ballard called it a sad day but expressed being “super grateful” for the opportunities he received.
Are Warner Bros. Games studios also affected?
Apparently not yet. According to Insider Gaming, the publicly known affected individuals are not from the former Warner Bros. Games studios but rather people who worked directly for Skydance before the acquisition. However, this does not mean the studios are safe: Skydance is reportedly offering severance packages to employees and plans further massive cuts across the entire group. Whether the wave will extend to the Warner teams remains to be seen.
Context: Why such acquisitions often lead to layoffs
Insider Gaming calls the layoffs inevitable because two large companies with many similar positions are now under one roof. Instead of reassigning people to new roles, large corporations often simply cut positions. These very redundancies are likely why Skydance’s own teams were affected first.
For players, the situation is still unclear. The source does not specify concrete consequences for ongoing projects, and we will not speculate here. Our editorial assessment: Until it is clear which teams and projects will remain, announcements from this environment should be treated with caution. Those interested in the consequences of corporate restructuring in the industry can also find the case of Star Wars Zero Company, also reported by Insider Gaming, within the ongoing wave of layoffs. That report concerns layoffs at developer Bit Reactor.
Source: Insider Gaming
Do you think the Warner Bros. Games studios are next, or will they be spared from the cuts?
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