TORONTO — Layoffs in the game industry have quickly become an all too common theme. Developers who worked on a successful game often face mass layoffs without warning. Well, one game development company is putting an end to that by having layoffs on their game’s seasonal roadmap.
Rongo Studios has decided enough is enough with out of nowhere layoffs. They decided it was only fair to put it right in the schedule. CEO & Founder Hunter Bishop explained the decision during the announcement.
“It is always really disheartening to see good devs get blindsided by layoffs. People say it’s part of the business, but it doesn’t have to be. I’ve decided to be the change I wanted to see in this world and put our layoffs right in the seasonal roadmap for our game so our employees know exactly what to expect,” he said.
The studio’s upcoming game, Scorchers, is a live service rogue-like PVPVE looter shooter with battle royal elements. While no release date has been announced, they have revealed the roadmap for the first three seasons, and true to Bishop’s word, layoffs are on there.
“As you can see layoffs, will happen during week 3 of our second season which will come 2 weeks after the launch of our first raid and 1 week before we announce the game is the most profitable in our studio’s history,” said Bishop.
“The raid launch will come with huge server and balance issues which we believe will soften the community on the layoffs when they happen.”
Employees at Rongo are happy they have a boss who seems to care about their feelings.
“Layoffs are an unavoidable part of being a game dev but to work at a place that cares enough about us to be upfront with when they’re gonna happen is really nice,” said environment designer Bob Benson. “I now get to plan ahead of time what I’m gonna do in my unemployment and scout out the next place I’ll be laid off from.”
Game industry analyst Tammy Campbell thinks this will revolutionize the industry.
“To let your employees know ahead of time when layoffs will happen is unheard of in this industry. So many developers nowadays don’t care about their employees at all, and it’s heartwarming to see companies stepping up to do what’s right,” explained Campbell. “If this experiment works, I have no doubt other studios will follow suit.”
As of press time, Bishop plans on adding being acquired and then shut down by Embracer Group on the next roadmap.
