Dune: Awakening developer Funcom has announced that it will lay off a number of employees, despite the fact that the survival MMO has been the studio's most successful launch to date.
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the Oslo-based developer will let an undisclosed number of staff members go in order to "restructure [its] teams and focus [its] resources from across projects and studios".
Funcom says this is needed because of the move to shift Dune: Awakening "from development to long-term live operation", which, to me, sounds rather like NetEase's shutting down of its Seattle studio after Marvel Rivals' release, although whether a proportionate number of employees will be affected is unclear.
In fact, in the statement given to GI.biz by Funcom, the studio brags about Dune: Awakening's success, declaring that it has "shown incredible potential" and that it was "the biggest release" Funcom has enjoyed in its 32-year history.
To me, announcing how successful your latest game has been and then immediately revealing that you're laying off a tranche of employees comes across as rather unforgivably gauche, but perhaps I just don't have a corporation's perspective on things.
Of course, Funcom is right to say Dune: Awakening has been a big success. The game, which launched on PC back in June, managed to hit a million sales within just two weeks of its launch. It's also due to land on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S at some point next year.
Still, Funcom is far from the only studio to lay off employees following a purple patch. Microsoft laid off thousands of employees earlier this year, many of them within the gaming sector, but Xbox's revenue actually increased last fiscal year.
It's becoming a very common refrain, but it seems that making and releasing a successful game is no longer enough to guarantee the retention of your job in the gaming industry. Stay tuned to find out which successful studio inevitably becomes the next one to lay off employees regardless.
