Deck Nine Games, a Narrative Studio, Reduces its Staff by 20%

Deck Nine Games, the studio behind the popular Life Is Strange series, recently announced layoffs cutting 20% of its staff, citing “worsening market conditions.” This follows similar layoffs the company had in 2023 and more recent ones in other game technology giants like PlayStation and developer Supermassive. The layoffs have impacted the team members who were working on several follow-up titles to Life Is Strange, as well as new games. Despite efforts including leadership taking pay cuts to mitigate the layoffs, the firm has been unable to prevent them completely.

In addition to Deck Nine Games, Sony also announced another round of layoffs, terminating more than 900 employees across PlayStation. The layoff news from Sony combined with Deck Nine Games’ situation indicates a challenging start to 2024, amid similar streamlining at Activision Blizzard and Xbox.

Although the future for Deck Nine Games and those affected by layoffs remains uncertain, there is hope that the industry can recover. Notwithstanding the current state of the gaming industry, its resilient history offers a glimmer of optimism.