The studio Ancient Forge, known for the games The Tenants and the upcoming Hotel Galactic, has laid off 24 out of 59 employees. This was reported by the portal CD-Action.
Hotel Galactic
According to CD-Action, the studio experienced significant growth over the past year, doubling its staff and embarking on the development of several new games. In July, it became known that Ancient Forge was facing financial difficulties. At that time, reports indicated that the studio was preparing to switch employees to reduced working hours as a cost-saving measure, but these measures apparently proved insufficient.
The management of Ancient Forge confirmed to CD-Action the occurrence of layoffs within the studio. They announced that they had disbanded the teams working on two games— the building simulator The Constructors and an unannounced AA-level fantasy RPG. The decision was made due to growing costs for the development of both games, as well as unsatisfactory productivity and output quality. The management believes this step will allow Ancient Forge to focus on more promising projects and maintain a stable financial position.
Currently, Ancient Forge prioritizes further support for the movie studio simulator Blockbuster Inc., released in June, and work on the space hotel simulator Hotel Galactic. The studio noted that Hotel Galactic could become Ancient Forge's new flagship, with the game currently counting 80,000 wishlists on Steam. It is still unknown when Hotel Galactic will reach its release date.