Club Penguin Island shuts down, "dozens" of developers reportedly laid off
Disney Canada ends mobile successor to shuttered Club Penguin in the face of "increasing global competition"
Club Penguin Island, Disney Canada's mobile follow-up to Club Penguin after it shuttered last year, is itself shutting down. As a part of this, a number of employees have reportedly been dismissed from the British Columbian studio.
An HR letter leaked to Kotaku just ahead of the official Club Penguin Island closure announcement reportedly states, "For several years now, we have been experiencing increasing global competition. We have explored many options to improve efficiency and reduce costs. These measures have succeeded to some extent. However, in order to reduce costs further and become more competitive, we find that we must reduce our workforce."
Kotaku says "dozens" of employees have been affected, and that those employees were "blindsided" by the project's closure. An anonymous former employee told the outlet that the studio had recently had another project greenlit, which would result in jobs "for at least 2 years while we built and launched a new product."
The letter also indicates that affected employees have received five weeks of severance and one month of benefits. There is no specific report as to the exact number of employees affected.