We’re barely into 2025, and the gaming industry has already delivered bad news: Three studios are shutting their doors, resulting in dozens of layoffs. Two of the three studios are subsidiaries of Enad Global 7, and the company said, “This decision does not come lightly and follows several initiatives to turn the subsidiary profitable.”
The first studio to close is Toadman Interactive, best known for Immortal: Unchained and Bloodsports TV. While not the direct developer, the studio offered support during the development of The Lord of the Rings Online and MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries. According to Enad Global 7, the closing affects everyone not under contract, and existing employment contracts will be honored. Adding salt to the wound is the news that 38 developers from Piranha Games are also going to be laid off following the subpar performance of MechWarrior 5: Clans.
Freejam, the developer of Robocraft 2 and CardLife, has also terminated operations. Its currently active games will close in the weeks ahead. The studio shared on its Discord that the costs to maintain Robocraft 2 and other games are too high to “launch or sustain development.”
Counterplay Games is the final studio to close, known for Godfall, one of PlayStation 5’s launch titles. Counterplay Games had worked alongside Jackalyptic on another project, but a recent employee’s LinkedIn post, shared by PlayStation Lifestyle, broke the news: “Unfortunately, we were unable to continue our partnership into the new year, and CPG [Counterplay Games] was disbanded.”
These announcements aren’t wholly unexpected. Last week saw several announcements of layoffs, as well as news from other studios at the tail end of 2024. The past years have been unfortunate for the gaming industry, with thousands of employees facing layoffs and studio closures.
