Devolver-owned studio Artificer reportedly cuts half its staff

Half of the Devolver-owned studio Artificer has reportedly been laid off.

According to Kotaku, around 25 people were laid off from the Showgunners developer yesterday, 31st January. Of those remaining at the Polish-based studio, a further 10-12 people will only be there for a few more months to assist with Artificer’s next, unannounced game. After this, their jobs will also be cut.

Eurogamer has asked Artificer and Devolver for further comment.

Devolver acquired Artificer’s parent company Good Shepherd Entertainment in January 2021. The studio went on to release Showgunners in May 2023.

The game, in which players take on the role of a contestant on a high stakes reality game show of the future, was met with praise, and still holds a “Very Positive” review average on Steam today.

This year has already seen multiple companies announce layoffs, including League of Legends developer Riot Games. Last month, the company revealed it was laying off 530 employees, equating to roughly 11 percent of its total global workforce. Others affected this year include Black Forest Games, Unity, Behaviour Interactive and Lords of the Fallen publisher CI Games.

Also in January, Microsoft announced it was laying off 1900 employees across its video game teams. In an email sent around the company, Microsoft’s gaming head Phil Spencer called this a “painful decision”.

A few short days after, Eidos Montreal’s new Deus Ex game was cancelled by Embracer Group, prompting a number of layoffs at the studio.