The developer of Wizard with a Gun, Galvanic Games, has announced that it would be closing down as the studio noted that lackluster sales of the game means it is unable to sustain itself.
The announcement of the unfortunate development was made by the studio's founder, Patrick Morgan. He explained that the sales of the company's most recent project, Wizard with a Gun, were not enough to keep the cogs running.
Galvanic Games Announces Closure
(Photo : Galvanic Games / Screenshot taken from official website)
The situation comes despite the studio having "encouraging conversations" at GDC and DICE in recent weeks. Morgan said that there is a certain bittersweetness in knowing that they were able to accomplish all of the things that they set out to do when Galvanic Games was first founded in 2015.
However, the founder said that he may never get over the irony of spending a decade building his ideal team only to see it end after the studio's most productive year. After its founding, the studio emerged into the video game industry with The Rust Belt, according to GameDeveloper.
Tools and the pipeline from that particular project would later go on to the fighting game Gurgamoth. From there, Galvanic Games made the Questmore browser game, Rapture Rejects, and Some Distant Memory.
Morgan regarded his coworkers and their work as "nothing short of extraordinary," and also created a list of those who wanted to be seen by potential employers on Linkedin. He also encouraged other companies to hire them to supplement their teams.
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Galvanic Games' Wizard with a Gun is a top-down co-op roguelite about wizards who, as the title suggests, are equipped with guns. It was described as a lean roguelite that never makes players feel like they are wasting their time despite its rough edges.
Morgan also shared the pride that he feels with the studio working on Wizard with a Gun, adding that working with publisher Devolver Digital was a "dream come true."
Galvanic Games' closure is representative of what has been going on in the video game industry for quite some time now, said PCGamer.
Video Game Industry Layoffs
In May, indie developer Maisie O Dorchaidhe said that the situation seemingly shows that there is no safety or security in the business. This is regardless of your team, your game, or how much blood, sweat, tears, and unclocked overtime are poured into projects.
A staggering number of layoffs in just the first half of 2024 has already surpassed those that were recorded in the entirety of 2023. Last year, the video game industry totaled more than 10,000 layoffs that affected programmers, quality assurance workers, sound designers, artists, and many others.
But now, just six months into 2024, the number of video game industry layoffs has already matched that number. It is worth noting that the numbers for both years are conservative, community-counted estimates from technical artist Farhan Noor's layoff tracker.
While the numbers may not be 100% accurate, they do tell a gruesome tale, with video game workers continuing to suffer the consequences that result from leadership's decisions, according to Polygon.
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