'Wayfinder' Dev Airship Syndicate Lays Off 16 Employees Following Restructuring Efforts

Wayfinder developer Airship Syndicate announced another round of layoffs that affected 16 of its workers, including contractors.

The situation comes three months after the studio brought back its role-playing game PC via Steam. CEO Joe Madureira and president Ryan Stefanelli posted a joint message on LinkedIn to talk about the latest development.

Airship Syndicate's Latest Layoffs

They said that the layoffs come in light of the difficult challenges that the video games industry is facing right now. The two added that it was a tough decision to make and had them letting go of talented Airship Syndicate members.

The affected workers include 12 full-time employees as well as four contractors. They added that Airship Syndicate had a studio restructuring earlier this year where they took pay cuts that are still in effect today, according to PCGamer.

The message noted that Madureira and Stefanelli were both contributing personal funds to help the studio continue operating with its remaining staff. Wayfinder originally launched in August 2023 and looked promising at first.

However, the role-playing game struggled with server issues and later ran into more problems. This was when publisher Digital Extremes axed its publishing division. The situation then led to the first round of layoffs in January this year and the pay cuts that Madureira and Stefanelli mentioned.

The joint message noted that the studio's remaining 50 employees are still committed to delivering the Wayfinder roadmap and developing future projects. Madureira and Stefanelli extended their deepest gratitude to all of their team members, MassivelyOP said.

Earlier this month, Airship Syndicate's AJ LaSaracina said that the studio was still working on developing and publishing itself. They added that Wayfinder has been the main focus but a small team was working on another project.

Work on Wayfinder

The 1.0 version of Wayfinder is fast approaching and Airship Syndicate has a Critical Role collaboration for it. The launch is expected to come on Oct. 21, 2024, which is only a few weeks away.

Fortunately for the studio, it seems that its work on Wayfinder has not gone unnoticed by players. On Steam, the game's recent Steam review scores are leaning towards the Very Positive territory.

This is a significant improvement compared to the mixed review score that the game had in recent times. Wayfinder will be getting various new features with its 1.0 launch, such as cross-play between PC and console players.

The collaboration will have players picking up a collaborative supporter pack with various cosmetics, trinkets, and housing items, according to MMORPG.