Studio CEO Jeremiah Slaczka confirmed that 45 staffers lost their jobs in the wake of the cancelation, but notes that the studio will remain in operation with a drastically reduced workforce.
5th Cell announced this week’s layoffs after publisher Warner Bros. canceled Scribblenauts: Fighting Words, a series sequel being developed for mobile devices. The cancelation caught the studio off-guard, leading to dozens of lost jobs as 5th Cell’s remaining staff scrambles to reassess its business plans.
“WB canceled [Fighting Words] today so we had to lay off the staff,” Slaczka told Polygon. “It happened so quick we’re not sure what the plans are going forward yet.”
“Unfortunately, due to a project cancelation, we have had to let go of 45 of our very talented staff members today,” Slaczka later clarified in a statement issued to Gamasutra. “Layoffs aren’t something we take lightly and we’d like to thank all our employees for all the hard work and dedication over the years.”
Slaczka continued: “5th Cell as a company is not closing down, but our focus right now is 100% on helping our staff make the transition to other external opportunities. If we haven’t already reached out, any interested employer can reach us at jobs@5thcell.com.”
5th Cell found its initial success on the Nintendo DS with titles like Drawn to Life, a creativity-focused game that encouraged players to solve puzzles by drawing specific tools and weapons on the platform’s touch screen. The studio continued to explore the realm of player-dictated content with Scribblenauts, an inventive puzzle-platformer in which players can summon thousands of interactive objects and characters by inputting specific words and phrases.
A Scribblenauts sequel premiered in 2010, and a third entry in the series, Scribblenauts Unlimited, hit the 3DS, Wii U, and PC platforms in 2012. The superhero-themed Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure was the final series entry to ship for consoles and PCs in 2013.
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