Hi-Rez Studios, who players may recognize as the developers behind such titles as Tribes: Ascend and Paladins, have announced that they will be undertaking a round of layoffs in order to ensure that their upcoming SMITE 2 will have “a long and sustainable future”.
This news was broken to the public on October 1st courtesy of a lengthy Twitter post authored by the studio’s current CEO, Stewart Chisam.
“Today, we’re making some difficult but necessary changes to ensure Hi-Rez’s long-term success, with a specific focus on positioning SMITE 2 for a long and sustainable future,” wrote the exec. “As part of this internal reorganization and reprioritization, we are laying off some team members across Hi-Rez. This will disproportionately impact those in marketing and publishing roles, as well as some from our Evil Mojo, G&A, and Titan Forge divisions. The game team roles impacted disproportionally affect our team working on cosmetic skin content and system features.”
“This news has a real human impact at a tough time for workers in this industry,” he continued. “Each impacted individual is a talented and dedicated professional who has poured their heart and soul into our games. Letting them go is a heartbreaking decision, reflects a failure in my leadership, and one for which I take personal accountability. These are all good people who contributed positively to the company; none should view this as a personal failure. I extend my deepest thanks to them for their contributions to the company and their role in helping entertain and bring joy to millions of players.”
Offering further insight into the decision, Chisam explained, “This move follows a comprehensive review of our strategy and operations. In the game division, we have decided to concentrate our efforts entirely on SMITE 2, outside of small teams supporting light updates for Paladins and SMITE 1. Within SMITE 2, we are almost exclusively prioritizing gameplay development in the near term—such as new modes and gods—as well as quality improvements—over some cosmetic and monetization features previously planned in the run-up to the game’s free-to-play launch next year.”
“Notably, the core dev team currently working on SMITE 2 after these changes is still a significant size: Larger than the SMITE 1 team was throughout most of its lifecycle (outside of a period during and shortly after the pandemic),” he added. “The team working on gods and gameplay features (versus skins and monetization/progression/system features) is larger than the SMITE 1 team ever was for such features. Our goal for SMITE 2 in the near term is to create the best possible game experience for our community and a game that provides joy to players and can sustain itself long into the 2030s. As we’ve gained experience through the Alpha, the process of migrating gods from SMITE 1 to SMITE 2 is now clearer, and we also better understand what players want from the game. We’re doubling down on ensuring this transition meets player expectations and moves faster, taking into account the lessons we have learned in the early Alpha.”
Drawing his announcement to a close, Chisam ultimately asserted, “While these changes are difficult, we believe they are necessary and we will emerge stronger from them. We appreciate your continued support and understanding during this challenging period, and the support and thanks you give those employees who are impacted and have given so much of their passion and time to help entertain us all. Thank you for standing by us as we build the future of Hi-Rez and SMITE 2.”
Notably, Chism did not specify how many exact employees would soon be out of a job.
Hi-Rez’s decision to refocus most of their efforts and resources on SMITE 2 comes two months after the game Early Access release was met with a less-than-stellar response from both average players and the gaming press.
As such, speculation suggests that the prospect of seeing their next, big-effort title release to a lackluster response left the studio spooked, thus leading them to go ‘all hands on deck’ on the MOBA’s development.
SMITE 2 is now in Early Access ahead of its full launch sometime in 2025.