Det er nærmest den ene dårlige nyhed efter den anden her i slutningen af 2023, når det kommer til fyringer i spilbranchen. Det seneste nye er, at Digital Bros forventer at skære omkring 30% i arbejdsstyrken. Det kommer som en del af et "organisational review", blandt selskabets spilstudier og udgivere.
Digital Bros siger i en pressemeddelelse:
"The video game market has evolved since the pandemic to be more selective in terms of new games, with consumers increasingly reverting to well established Intellectual Properties and playing these same games for longer periods.
Digital Bros strategy has had to adapt to this new and evolving competitive scenario and will focus its efforts moving forward on the release of sequels and new versions of previously successful and established games, with a limited number of new larger budgets productions.
In order to prioritize high-quality and long-standing successful titles, Digital Bros has reconsidered the number of projects under development and as such, will review the organization structure accordingly to align with the evolving competitive environment in the medium to long-term to ensure maximum operational efficiency.
The restructuring program is expected to represent a reduction of approximately 30% of the global workforce, with the predominant portion concentrated within the studios."
Italienske Digital Bros har kontorer i blandt andet USA, Frankrig, Spanien, Canada, Tyskland og Australien. De ejer selskaber som Kunos Simulazioni (Assetto Corsa), DR Studios (Terraria, Hawken) og 505 Games (Ghostrunner, Control, Death by Daylight).
Der har været talrige fyringer i spilbranchen i 2023 og det har ramt virksomheder som Epic Games (som fyrede over 800 medarbejdere på én gang), Xbox Game Studios, CD Projekt, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Ubisoft, Unity, Riot Games, BioWare, Blizzard, Striking Distance, Frontier Developments, Crystal Dynamics, Telltale Games, Team17, Digital Extremes og Amazon.