Dune Awakening was 'the biggest release' in Funcom's 32-year history, so you can probably guess what comes next in this rotten world: layoffs
In the latest proof that 'job security' is simply not a thing in the videogame industry, Funcom says the survival MMO Dune: Awakening, which launched to great success earlier this year, is "the biggest release we’ve had in our 32-year long history of making great games." And so now it's laying off employees.
"[Dune] has already shown incredible potential, and the right way forward is to focus our internal resources on releasing new content, features, and enhancements," Funcom said in a statement provided to GamesIndustry.
"The transition from development to long-term live operation, while also building towards a major console release next year, will require us to restructure our teams and focus our resources from across projects and studios. Unfortunately, this also means having to say goodbye to cherished colleagues."
Funcom said it "cannot yet determine the exact impact" of the cuts, and did not provide information on how many people are being let go.
Dune: Awakening was also Funcom's "fastest-selling game ever," in case you'd forgotten.
So, that's lovely: Help make the company's biggest game ever, and get shown the door a few months later. It sounds ridiculous, yes, but that's actually number two on our list of 20 foolproof ways to get laid off in the videogame industry, a depressing and yet not at all exaggerated litany of all the many ways you can get screwed for daring to take employment in an industry that market intelligence firm Newzoo estimates will earn $189 billion in revenues worldwide in 2025 alone.
The layoffs at Funcom are the first of October, although based on precedent I don't imagine they'll be the last. It comes just a day after Just Cause studio Avalanche announced the closure of its Liverpool studio and layoffs at its Malmö and Stockholm operations, which appear to be a consequence of the layoff of roughly 9,000 people made by Microsoft in July—a bloodbath that was, ironically, also announced with a bizarre statement about how business has "never looked stronger." September also saw layoffs at Firaxis, which launched Civilization 7 in February.