In a particularly devastating entry into the ongoing wave of layoffs currently sweeping across the Western video game industry, noted co-development studio Lost Boys Interactive has announced that, due to “shifting marketing conditions”, they will be pink slipping a majority of their workforce.
The Embraced-owned studio, whose credits include providing various support roles to such noted titles as Diablo IV, PUBG, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, and recent entries of the WWE2K series, publicly announced the news on by way of a September 6th post made to their official LinkedIn page.
“Lost Boys Interactive has made the very difficult decision to reduce our overall headcount in accordance with local laws and consultation processes,” wrote the studio’s leadership. “As a remote first company, this impacts employees across several states. We are committed to supporting our affected staff in finding new positions as quickly as possible. Additionally, Lost Boys will collaborate with other studios and recruiters to help connect them with job opportunities.”
“As a co-development partner studio, Lost Boys is directly influenced by the projects and priorities of our development clients,” they continued. “The need to adapt to shifting market conditions within the video game industry has required us to reassess our operations to align with the evolving needs of our business and our partners.”
“Lost Boys Interactive remains dedicated to delivering high-quality full development services to our current partners and clients,” the statement concluded. “Our teams working on our ongoing titles remain in place as they are, and we continue to seek additional development opportunities moving forward.”
Sharing a personal statement of his own, CEO Shaun Nivens lamented, “Today is a challenging day for Lost Boys Interactive as we face the difficult decision to reduce our workforce.”
“We recognize the impact of this decision on our team members, who have contributed greatly to our success,” he added. “Decisions involving staff reductions are never made lightly, and this action was taken only after considering all other options. We are committed to supporting them in every way we can during this transition.”
Per an official filing with the Wisconsin state government, whose state their HQ currently resides in, the studio confirmed that a total of 139 employees would be effected by these layoffs.
In light of the fact that, as posted to their official website, Lost Boys Interactive’s workforce was composed of just a little over 200 employees at the time of this announcement, this cut represents a roughly 63% reduction in their overall headcount.
Notably, this round of layoffs comes just nine months after Lost Boys Interactive’s last round of housecleaning.
In January 2024, as revealed by now-former studio producer Jared Pace, “a sizeable of Lost Boys Interactive was laid off” for as-of-yet publicly unspecified reasons.
