However, it seems that this restructuring does not involve retaining any of the existing employees.
Information about the mass layoffs came first from Humble Games employees. One of them said said on LinkedInreported that at 9 a.m., 36 employees of the publishing house learned about their dismissal and the closure of the company. Another employee confirmed that all Humble Games employees had lost their jobs.
The official statement of the publisher published on the social network X says «restructuring», not closure. The company assures that it will continue to support developers with whom it has signed agreements on game publishing.
In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability…
— Humble Games – Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus OUT NOW (@PlayHumbleGames) July 23, 2024
Chris Radley, a former Humble Games employee who left the company in 2022, said that the publisher’s entire staff was replaced by a «third-party consulting firm». According to Aftermath, this firm was The Powell Group, which took over management after an unsuccessful attempt by Humble Games owner Ziff Davis to sell the publishing house.
«We will continue to support our development partners and fulfill our obligations to them», — Humble Games said in an official statement.
Humble Games is known for publishing such games as Void Bastards, Forager, Signalis, and the Ukrainian Moonscars. The publisher also has deals for future projects, including the survival game Lost Skies and the cooperative heist game Monaco 2.
It is worth noting that Humble Games is affiliated with Humble Bundle — a store that popularized the sale of game bundles under the «pay as you go» scheme. However, these are separate companies, and today’s news will not affect the operation of Humble Bundle.
Both Humble Bundle and Humble Games are owned by Ziff Davis, a media company that also owns IGN, Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, GamesIndustry.biz, and other gaming sites.
The situation with Humble Games reflects a general trend in the gaming industry. Last year was a difficult year for the industry, and this year the situation is only deteriorated — in January alone, thousands of employees of various companies were fired.
Source: PCgamer