Video game publisher 505 Games has closed its offices in Germany, Spain, and France in a new round of restructuring within the games industry.
While the news of the office closures is new to some, 505 Games told Eurogamer that the news was “part of our original announcement from November regarding 505’s business review.”
The company’s initial announcement from last year also mentioned it would lay off 30% of its workforce. “The video game market has evolved since the pandemic to be more selective in terms of new games, the company said in November. Adding that consumers are increasingly returning to established IPs and spending more time on those games.
Acquisitions amidst layoffs
Remedy Entertainment has recently acquired the full rights to the Control franchise from 505 Games who first published the game for €17 million (~$18,300,000) which is big news for fans of the popular game.
Remedy will now independently develop and publish the Control sequel and any future projects related to the franchise. This change also means that Remedy has full creative control over the direction of Control 2 and any subsequent titles, without the involvement of 505 Games.
The video game industry has experienced a wave of restructuring and layoffs over the past year, and just two months into 2024, more than 8,100 individuals have been impacted by job cuts and we’ve put together an extensive round-up of all 2024 layoffs so far.
This trend has affected a wide range of companies and studios, from major players like Sony’s PlayStation division to smaller independent developers.
