Humble Games Denies Shutdown, Announces Restructuring Amid Layoff Reports

Humble Games, the publishing leg of Humble Bundle, has announced a structural readjustment in its operations amid reports of massive layoffs. Contrary to this, the company has sought to dispel any rumors that it is shutting down. Having been established in 2017, Humble Games has gone ahead to publish numerous critically acclaimed titles, among them Stray Gods, Signalis, Slay the Spire, A Hat in Time, and Unpacking.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical — (Photo : Summerfall Studitios / Screenshot taken from Steam.)

Humble Games Restructures Amid Layoff Concerns

Layoff reports emerged yesterday after a few Humble Games employees took to social media to break the news. Nicola Kwan, a business development manager, posted on LinkedIn that 36 people had been laid off at 9 AM and the company was shutting down. Similarly, senior QA Emilee Kieffer tweeted it was her last day and the final day for her whole team from Humble Games.

Company Confirms Restructuring Plans

Following the allegations, a Humble Games representative announced the restructuring but denied shutting down. He said that future releases would remain unaffected, including Monaco 2 and Wizard of Legend 2. The representative did not want to provide additional information regarding the total number of affected employees. Just a few months ago, Humble Games had other job cutbacks in November.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Humble Games responded to a question by email, the contents of which elaborated that this difficult decision was taken to secure the stability and continuation of ongoing projects, together with the continued support for their developers. Showing compassion toward the jittery team members, the company pledged to take care of those affected while the firm goes through this transition. Further, it reassured that the restructuring at Humble Games would not have any effect on the operations of Humble Bundle.

Humble Games and Humble Bundle were acquired by Ziff Davis in October 2017 and went on to become part of IGN Entertainment. Meanwhile, Eurogamer and its sister sites have joined IGN Entertainment via the May acquisition by Ziff Davis of Gamer Network from Reedpop.