The Canadian developer Skybox Labs has laid off 25 staff members. Skybox Labs is a subsidiary of NetEase, a Chinese company that has acquired many different companies over time. This included Grasshopper Manufacture, Quantic Dream, and Skybox Labs, for example. In addition to acquiring all of these studios, they’ve helped establish additional studios globally, often headed by industry veterans such as Greg Street and David Vonderhaar. The layoffs at Skybox Labs were announced on LinkedIn five days ago in a statement. “Despite all our best efforts, we are not immune to the unprecedented challenges that have impacted so many companies in the industry.”
The layoffs throughout the industry continue to rise, with the number reaching well over 12,700 in this year alone. The statement continues on to say that “every impacted employee will be fully supported through severance, extended benefits, career transition service, and connection to other resources to provide them with the assistance they require during this difficult time.” Compared to other studios, this is generous despite the awful situation for those affected. Many companies have come under fire for laying off their staff in brutal and blunt ways and not providing them with any benefits or severance. One particular company that has come under fire multiple times for their layoffs is Bungie. They have experienced multiple layoffs this year, and considering how they are doing financially, it’s possible that they will have more layoffs as shareholders pressure them to restructure the company.
Skybox Labs was acquired by NetEase at the beginning of 2023 and is well known for its work on games such as Halo, Minecraft, and Age of Empires. It’s currently unknown whether they are looking to develop any of their own games or whether they will continue to collaborate with other studios to assist in the development of other games.
If Skybox Labs was laid off only a year after being acquired by NetEase, it’s possible that other NetEase subsidiaries will face layoffs. It hasn’t been said directly whether NetEase issued the layoffs or whether they came from within the company.
NetEase came under fire just last month, after deciding to shut down Ouka Studios, the developers behind Visions of Mana. The studio was launched in 2020 by NetEase, and it’s said that only a handful of jobs remained by the end of Visions of Mana’s development. NetEase refused to comment regarding the reported closure, and it was never explained why the company needed to close down, especially after making such a successful game that Square Enix published.
