Double Fine Productions has announced that it has laid off 23 members of its development staff.
The studio – founded in 2000 by former LucasArts veteran Tim Schafer – was acquired by Microsoft in 2019 and developed Rad, Psychonauts 2, Keeper and Kiln after that.
Following news last month that Xbox planned to cut thousands of jobs as part of what CEO Asha Sharma called “the most significant restructure in Xbox history”, however, a number of Microsoft-owned studios faced closure.
Some of these studios started negotiating with Xbox to go independent in an attempt to avoid closure, and Double Fine was successful in these negotiations along with South of Midnight studio Compulsion Games.
As a newly independent studio, however, Double Fine has found itself having to cut costs to remain a going concern, which it says has led to layoffs.
“Today, Double Fine Productions let go of 23 members of our staff,” Schafer said in a statement posted on Bluesky.
“As a small, tightly-knit team, these actions are not taken lightly. Only the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful action. Our transition to becoming an independent company also means becoming a size that we can sustain.
“The people we are losing were all important. They all made an impact on our games and culture, and they will be missed. We are committed to supporting each affected person as best as we can, and we thank them for their hard work and commitment to the creative spirit we cherish here at Double Fine.”
While becoming an independent studio was doubtless considered preferable to being shut down entirely by Xbox, the move is not a guarantee of safety, and such studios will have to work on new projects soon to bring in finances.
Earlier this month Compulsion Games – which also recently became independent following its acquisition by Microsoft in 2018 – posted a message on its LinkedIn page reaching out to other studios, offering collaborative work on any projects they may need a partner for.
“With Compulsion Games returning to its roots as an independent developer, we are expanding opportunities to collaborate with studios across the games and entertainment industry,” it said at the time.
