As the gaming industry gears up for awards night, rampant layoffs continue to put a damper on what should be an otherwise fun pastime. The latest casualties are reportedly 99 WB Games Montreal employees.
Radio-Canada (via Game Developer) says many of the laid-off employees were subcontractors through Keywords Studios, a company that provides technical and creative services to game companies. Keyword worked on quality assurance for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
By the way, these layoffs coincided with Rocksteady’s announcement on January 14th that it would end support for the Suicide Squad game (WB Games Montreal helped develop the game). The game was released in February of last year, so it had the disgrace of lasting less than a year. The publisher pulled the plug. The next season 4 episode 8 will be the last.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, one of the laid-off staff members told French-France Radio-Canada that they were given eight weeks’ notice of their termination. WB Montreal is said to have given them the choice of joining a recall list for future projects or receiving assistance from a career counselor. But officials said the company doesn’t expect the registry to have a chance until 2026. That’s not much of an option unless someone has savings to burn.
This news follows recent layoffs at Ubisoft, Xbox/Activision Blizzard, and too many others to name. The gaming industry is expected to generate more than $187 billion in 2024, with an annual growth rate of 2.1%.
