UPDATE: Company denies using AI to write statement.
News by Matt Wales News Reporter
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UPDATE 24/7/24 3pm UK: Humble Games has denied using AI to write yesterday's statement that characterised the reported layoffs of the brand's entire staff as a "restructuring".
Responding to a series of follow-up questions from Eurogamer, a Humble Games spokesperson declined to confirm details provided earlier by former Humble Bundle creative lead Chris Radley, reported below, that the changes amounted to the Humble Games brand winding down its work for good, with a third-party firm brought in temporarily to handle any leftover work.
"Humble Games operations will continue as per the statement," the spokesperson said, when asked whether any new titles might still be signed in future.
UPDATE 24/7/24 10am UK: The "restructuring" of Humble Games will see the brand's current projects completed by a third-party video games consultancy firm, it's emerged.
"I want it to be made abundantly clear, this is NOT a restructuring of operations," former Humble Bundle creative lead Chris Radley wrote on LinkedIn. "This is a total shutdown of Humble Games. Operations have been handed off to a third party consultancy. NO staff are left."
Radley said the description of Humble Games' layoffs as a restructuring was "direspectful", and suggested that Ziff Davis' statement had been written by AI. Posting on social media platform X, Michael Douse, director of publishing at Baldur's Gate 3 studio Larian, also suggested the statement had been AI-generated.
Separately, Aftermath has obtained a recording of the call where Humble Games staff were told that all 36 people would lose their jobs. In it, Steve Horowitz, president of Ziff Davis' technology and shopping division, confirmed that remaining projects would be finished by consultancy firm The Powell Group.
"We're gonna be using a third-party to help us manage the slate moving forward, as well as the back catalogue," Horowitz said. "As a result, all roles within Humble Games are gonna be impacted."
Eurogamer has contacted Ziff Davis for more.
ORIGINAL STORY 23/7/24: Humble Games, the publishing division of digital storefront Humble Bundle, says it has "made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations" amid reports it has laid off all staff, but insists it is "not shutting down".
Humble Games was formed in 2017, and has gone on to publish a significant number of acclaimed titles, including Stray Gods, Signalis, Slay the Spire, A Hat in Time, and Eurogamer's Game of the Year in 2021, Unpacking.
Earlier today, however, several Humble Games employees took to social media with reports of layoffs at the company. "At 9AM this morning," business development manager Nicola Kwan wrote in a post on LinkedIn, "36 employees of Humble Games were told that we were being let go and that the company is shutting down".
"Another year, another lay off!," Humble Bundle senior QA Emilee Kieffer added in a separate post. "Today is mine and my entire team's last day at Humble Games."
In response to those initial claims, a Humble Games spokesperson has now confirmed "restructuring" at the company, but insists it is "not shutting down" and that its upcoming releases - which includes Monaco 2 and Wizard of Legend 2 - won't be affected. The spokesperson added they "cannot currently comment on staffing numbers at this time" when asked how many employees had been impacted by layoffs. Today's news follows an unspecified number of job cuts at Humble Games last November.
"In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations," the company wrote in a statement provided to Eurogamer. "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. Additionally, the restructuring of 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 empathise with everyone affected," it continued. "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," Humble Games concluded in its statement. "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."
Humble Bundle, alongside Humble Games, was purchased by Ziff Davis in October 2017 and has operated under subsidiary IGN Entertainment since then. Eurogamer and its sister sites, including Rock Paper Shotgun and GamesIndustry.biz, have been part of IGN Entertainment since May, when Ziff Davis acquired Gamer Network from former owner Reedpop.
2024 continues to be a devastating year for games industry employees, with over 10,000 people having lost their jobs so far. That's compared to the 10,500 games industry workers who were laid off across the entirety of 2023.
