Indie publisher Versus Evil staff say TinyBuild laid them off "at the start of our Christmas break"
"Let me be clear - this wasn’t a Versus Evil decision or choice."
TinyBuild has shut down indie publisher Versus Evil.
According to employees affected by the layoffs, staff were notified of the redundancies "at the start of [their] Christmas break".
"Welp. That was a fun 10-year ride. The entire Versus Evil team has just been laid off," tweeted head of production, Lance James, as spotted by PC Gamer.
"Let me be clear - this wasn't a Versus Evil decision or choice."
Welp. That was a fun 10 year ride. The entire Versus Evil team has just been laid off.
— Lance James (@Myll_Erik) December 22, 2023
"Entire 13-person company, Versus Evil, laid off today December 22 at the start [of] our Christmas break," added product strategy director Francis Finke in LinkedIn post, before adding the names, positions, and experience of all those affected by the layoffs.
"Today is a sad day," the studio itself tweeted after staff went public with the redundancies.
"After 10 wonderful years, Versus Evil is shutting its doors. We've loved bringing you the best indie games we could find & sharing so many happy memories with you all, our amazing community! From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for everything!"
Today is a sad day. After 10 wonderful years, Versus Evil is shutting its doors. We've loved bringing you the best indie games we could find & sharing so many happy memories with you all, our amazing community! From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for everything! ♥️
— Versus Evil 🛡️ (@vs_evil) December 22, 2023
The layoffs come just weeks after former employees of TinyBuild's internal developer Hakjak Studios also confirmed it had been shut down.
"How is it that 2023 can have been one of the best years in memory for games but also one of the worst years in memory for games, and for the gaming industry," Bertie wrote in his excellent write-up, You can't talk about 2023 in games without talking about layoffs. "I can't balance this equation - I've been trying all year and it gives me a headache.
"We should be talking about 2023 as one of the years that will go down in history for games, like 2007 did. We've had Baldur's Gate 3, Zelda 2, Cocoon, Alan Wake 2, Banished Vault, and - genuinely - so many more. We've been giddy all year at Eurogamer at the relentless quality on show. We ought to be celebrating now during this end of year period, and we will celebrate. We can't do that alone, because there's another story we cannot ignore: layoffs."