According to information provided by affected employees, another studio recently had to make layoffs. This time it was the team at Surgent Studios, which released its debut title, “Tales of Kenzera: Zau,” earlier this year.
In recent weeks, cost-cutting measures and layoffs in the video game industry have continued seamlessly. Most recently, for example, Ubisoft Torontothe “Just Cause” makers of the Avalanche Studios or Behaviour Interactivethe studio behind “Dead by Daylight,” employs dozens of people.
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Current reports According to reports, another studio is affected these days. The indie studio Surgent released its debut title in April this year “Tales of Kenzera: Magic”As several affected people report, they were recently informed that they will unfortunately lose their jobs.
It is currently unclear how many employees Surgent Studios will be laying off. The studio itself has not yet commented on the current development.
Several leading minds affected
According to social media posts, senior creative staff are also affected by the layoffs, including level designer Peter Brisbourne. Brisbourne commented on LinkedIn: “Hi! The 'Pete works at Surgent Studios' chapter will come to an end at the end of the month.”
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Former Surgent technical artist Jordan Smee confirmed the reports of the layoffs, saying “they join all the people who have been affected by layoffs in the industry this year.” On Bluesky, another Surgent employee spoke out and confirmed the layoffs.
The layoffs came just over two months after the release of “Tales of Kenzera: Zau.” This raises the suspicion that the indie studio’s first major project did not sell as well as hoped.
EA has not yet given any figures
The publisher Electronic Arts, with whom Surgent Studios developed and published “Tales of Kenzera: Zau”, has not yet released any sales figures. Another event that could indicate that “Tales of Kenzera: Zau” could be a commercial failure, which ultimately led to layoffs at Surgent Studios.
“Tales of Kenzera: Zau” was released on April 23, 2024 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch. On the PS5 even Day One in PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium subscription.
The Metroidvania adventure received solid to positive reviews from international magazines. On Metacritic After more than 60 reviews, it achieved an average rating of 76 points.
The user score was somewhat more modest at 6.7.
More news about Tales of Kenzera: Zau.
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