Sumo Group To Lay Off 15% of Employees a Day After Summer Game Fest Showcase

Sumo Group just announced that it would be laying off 15% of its workers just one day after the studio's Summer Game Fest showcase.

The situation comes as former employees from Timbre Games broke the news of its closure on Linkedin and lead talent partner Jaclyn Adair revealed that 80 people have been affected. She said that they stood up for their beliefs and values to leave their mark on the industry.

Sumo Group Lays Off Employees

Sumo Group To Lay Off 15% of Employees a Day After Summer Game Fest Showcase — Sumo Group announced that it was laying off 15% of its workers, a decision that comes only a day after the company's showcase at the Summer Game Fest.
(Photo : Sumo Group / Screenshot taken from official website)

Adair noted that they had fun working together and were able to connect deeply with one another. While she said that there were growing pains, they faced them head-on and transparently, together.

The studio was first spun up in 2021 and served as an extension of Pipeworks Studios and was led by Electronic Arts alum Joe Nickolls. The latter is the Vancouver studio that aimed to make action and simulation games.

This was only one of the results of Sumo Group laying off workers from several of its subsidiaries. While the company did not provide an exact number of people affected, it said that offices in Canada, the Czech Republic, India, Poland, and the United Kingdom will be affected, according to GameDeveloper.

In its announcement post, Sumo Group said that it has been one of the companies affected by the game industry's current issues and "reshaping operations across the business." The latest reductions are allegedly being made despite "every alternate route" being considered.

The studio said that it is undertaking an incredibly challenging process, especially for the people who are working at Sumo Group. The post added that the company is shifting its focus on supporting its people and working with partners on their games as it moves forward to come out ready for the future.

Sumo Group is based in Sheffield and is a subsidiary of Tencent, which makes it primarily known through its offshoots like Sumo Digital, The Chinese Room, and the Nottingham team. Also, many of its studios operate as co-developers on other projects.

The Closure of Timbre Games

The situation comes after Sumo Group was acquired by the Chinese media conglomerate in 2021 for $1.2 billion. Since then, the company has developed high-profile titles that fans have enjoyed, including Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Crackdown 3, said Eurogamer.

Sumo Group also provided crucial support in the development of various projects, including Forza Horizon, Hogwarts Legacy, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. On the other hand, the closure of Timbre Games comes only three years after it was founded.

While the studio has not yet released a lot of games, it was said that at the time of the closure, it was working on the development of two games. One of these was an action RPG and the other one was less well-defined but described as "Kind of cozy, kind of RPGish, kind of sim-like."

The recent layoffs and studio closure mark the latest in a series of unfortunate developments in the video game industry. Since 2023, many companies, large and small, have eliminated jobs and shut down offices to either position themselves for growth or stave off full closure, according to PCGamer.