Recently a Humble Games an employee stated on LinkedIn that the publisher was closing: “At 9 am this morning, 36 employees of Humble Games were told that we were being let go and that the company is shutting down,” they wrote. Another employee said that everyone at Humble Games had lost their job. The publisher’s statement says that it is “restructuring” rather than closing, and that it will continue to support developers it has publishing deals with.
“The game industry is volatile, it’s been inundated by people who only want exponential growth at the expense of making great games with great teams,” added former 2D artist, Emilee Kieffer. According to Chris Radley, a former Humble Games employee who left in 2022, the entire Humble Games staff has been replaced by a “third party consultancy.” Aftermath reports that a company called The Powell Group is taking over after Humble Games owner Ziff Davis unsuccessfully attempted to sell the publisher.
Humble Games is known for publishing games like Void Bastards, Forager, and Signalis, and has deals with several upcoming games, including survival game Lost Skies and co-op heisting game Monaco 2.
Last year was a bad year for games industry job security, but the situation only worsened this year, with thousands of layoffs in January alone.
*UPDATE*
In a statement, Humble Games said:
“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 and support of our developers and ongoing projects. Also, restructuring operations at Humble Games will have no impact on operations at Humble Bundle.
“We are acutely aware of the profound impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and deeply empathize with everyone affected. Our team’s contributions have been world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we started publishing in 2017. We are committed to navigating this transition with as much empathy and understanding as possible.
“Supporting our development partners and assisting former team members remains our top priority. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved. Thank you for your support and compassion during this challenging period. It is deeply appreciated.”
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