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Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive is laying off roughly 95 employees, the company has announced. The majority of those that will be affected – 70 of the 95 – work at the studio’s Montreal, Canada, office, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz.
As for why, the company cites restructuring as it pursues a clarified vision around “multiple strategic changes.” Behaviour says these layoffs will not affect its service business or its development on Dead by Daylight.
“To pursue this clarified vision [lead in horror, lead in service, and explore the possibilities of location-based entertainment], Behaviour will implement multiple strategic changes to its corporate structure, improving the distinction between its product, production, business development, and marketing resources,” a press release reads. “As a result of these changes, the company will reduce its team by up to 95 employees, 70 of whom are based in Montreal. Each of these individuals offered valuable contributions to Behaviour, and will be fully supported by the organization in pursuing the next step in their careers.”
Outside of Dead by Daylight development, Behaviour is helping The Quarry developer Supermassive Games develop The Casting of Frank Stone, a single-player horror game set in the Dead by Daylight universe.
These layoffs arrive a few months after the studio laid off roughly 45 people at the same Montreal office back in January and join an ever-growing list of disheartening layoffs and studio closures in 2024.
Fae Farm and Dauntless developer Phoenix Labs laid off the majority of its staff and canceled its in-development games back in May, and that same week, Square Enix announced it will begin layoffs as part of “structural reforms.”
In May, Xbox closed four Bethesda studios, including Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks and Redfall studio Arkane Austin. Take-Two Interactive closed Rollerdrome studio Roll7 and Kerbal Space Program 2 studio Intercept Games alongside major layoffs to its indie-publisher Private Division label. That same week, we learned Deliver Us Mars developer Keoken Interactive had laid off nearly its entire staff.
Elsewhere in the year, EA laid off roughly 670 employees across all departments, resulting in the cancellation of Respawn’s Star Wars FPS game. PlayStation laid off 900 employees across Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, and more, closing down London Studio in the process, too. The day before, Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games announced it laid off 90 employees.
At the end of January, we learned Embracer Group had canceled a new Deus Ex game in development at Eidos-Montréal and laid off 97 employees in the process. Also in January, Destroy All Humans remake developer Black Forest Games reportedly laid off 50 employees and Microsoft announced it was laying off 1,900 employees across its Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and ZeniMax teams, as well. Outriders studio People Can Fly laid off more than 30 employees in January, and League of Legends company Riot Games laid off 530 employees.
Lords of the Fallen Publisher CI Games laid off 10 percent of its staff, Unity will lay off 1,800 people by the end of March, and Twitch laid off 500 employees.
We also learned that Discord had laid off 170 employees, that layoffs happened at PTW, a support studio that’s worked with companies like Blizzard and Capcom, and that SteamWorld Build company, Thunderful Group, let go of roughly 100 people. Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive also reportedly laid off 45 people, too.
The hearts of the Game Informer staff are with everyone who’s been affected by layoffs or closures.
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]