Skydance game studios cut scores of developers after Paramount merger
Insider Gaming reports at least 30 people at Paramount Games were affected, with staff saying the cuts were not performance-related.
Skydance Interactive and Skydance New Media, now part of Paramount Games, laid off scores of developers after being folded into the new entity, according to Insider Gaming. The outlet reports that at least 30 people at Paramount Games were affected.
Associate design director David Ballard said his time with Skydance and Paramount ended with a layoff over the weekend. Lead engineer David Vera named more than 27 affected people in a post and said the cuts were not due to performance.
The layoffs came about a month after the parent company merged with Warner Bros., and about four months after the gaming divisions were combined. It is unclear whether anyone on the Warner Bros. side was cut, and what the layoffs mean for existing projects.
Background
Skydance Interactive was formed in 2016 to make virtual reality games, including 2024's Behemoth. Over the summer, it was merged with Skydance New Media into Paramount Games, whose portfolio included licensed collaborations such as TMNT: The Last Ronin and Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game, plus an unannounced "dark academia" RPG. In June, Skydance VP Tony Driscoll told Variety that games were becoming a core driver of storytelling across Paramount.
Quick answers
Who was affected by the Paramount Games layoffs?
Insider Gaming reports at least 30 people at Paramount Games were affected, and lead engineer David Vera named more than 27 people in a post.
Were the layoffs performance-related?
David Vera said the cuts were not due to performance.