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Playtonic has been hit with layoffs. The studio has developed games like Yooka-Laylee and is also the publisher (via its Playtonic Friends label) of a number of indie titles in recent years, including Victory Heat Rally and Lil Gator Game. Sadly, despite numerous of its titles garnering quite a lot of praise and even decent sales, the studio is nevertheless jettisoning some of its workers. As revealed via various LinkedIn posts, a range of staffers across Playtonic’s VFX, art, and production departments, among others, have been let go. We don’t have a definitive number of workers that were released, but suffice to say, it’s yet another sign of the ongoing turmoil within the video game industry.
Playtonic was founded back in 2014 by Rare expats. Their initial claim to fame, Yooka-Laylee, began as a spiritual successor to the Banjo-Kazooie series. While its sequel, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, branched off in a new direction, the series as a whole has been dormant for years. A remake of the original game, Yooka-Replayle, is slated for a 2025 launch, but beyond that Playtonic has been more focused on the publishing side of things of late. It seems that here, in particular, has been a source of trouble with games published by Playtonic not quite meeting sales expectations. While Yooka-Replaylee could indeed turn things around, as of now the game faces an uncertain future.
Until Playtonic makes an official statement, there aren’t any precise details to go off of, but if we hear anything we’ll pas it along to you all.
Source: Nintendo Life
