Blackbird Interactive lays off 41 staff
Announced projects not affected by this move, studio says
Vancouver-based studio Blackbird Interactive has laid off 41 employees.
The Minecraft Legends co-developer confirmed the information in a statement to IGN, after it was announced on LinkedIn by staff.
Blackbird was employing around 300 people according to its LinkedIn page, with the layoffs representing roughly 13% of its workforce.
"We've had to take the unfortunate step of laying off some friends this week," the statement read. "This year has been incredibly tough on the industry as a whole. As a result, we've had several unannounced projects cancelled and yesterday were forced to say goodbye to 41 of our team members.
"As an independent studio, Blackbird Interactive has always been a close-knit team. Our top priority is helping position those affected for this next stage of their careers. We are offering a suite of extended benefits and severance to help ease this transition. No announced projects will be affected by this move, and we will continue to deliver on those games."
The studio is currently working on two projects – Homeworld 3, set to be published by Gearbox, and Earthless, handled by Team17. Both are due in 2024.
This is the latest in a long string of layoffs across the industry with, most recently, Imagendary Studios reportedly laying off the majority of its staff earlier this week, Mimimi Games shutting down, and BioWare laying off 50 employees.