Digital Bros has just announced that they are laying off 30 % of their employees, as the latest company to follow this unfortunate trend.
Digital Bros is not as famous a name as Capcom, or even the likes of Tencent, but their games definitely are. The Italian game company is both a publisher and developer, with a few other companies to their name. Among those companies they own are Kunos Simulazioni, the studio behind the Assetto Corsa racing game series, and 505 Games, a middle range player in the industry that has published games ranging from AAA to what is commonly labeled as indie.
505 Games’ publishing gameography includes Control, Dead by Daylight, Indivisible, Death Stranding, Abzu, Terraria, RedOut, and Virginia.
As reported by Insider Gaming, Digital Bros shared this statement in a press release:
“In order to prioritize high-quality and long-standing successful titles, Digital Bros has reconsidered the number of projects under development and as such, will review the organization structure accordingly to align with the evolving competitive environment in the medium to long-term to ensure maximum operational efficiency.
The restructuring program is expected to represent a reduction of approximately 30% of the global workforce, with the predominant portion concentrated within the studios.”
Digital Bros goes on to say that they do not expect to see changes in their profitability either way, because the savings they make from smaller payroll will compensate the potential effect of restructuring.
It’s possible that Digital Bros is making this decision, and came to this conclusion, because they are shutting down specific studios and companies they own. So, it’s possible that neither 505 Games nor Kunos Simulazioni will be affected by this decision.
Other studios Digital Bros own include DR Studios, Avantgarden, Infinity Plus Two, and Ingame Studios. Infinity Plus Two was once known for making the Warlords and Puzzle Quest games, but has become more low profile in recent years. Similarly, the other studios haven’t made any games that broke through the mainstream, though it is likely they have been doing support work for bigger companies.
Regardless of the accomplishments of specific game companies, it is of course never great news when we have to report layoffs. We hope that these developers can continue to find work within the industry.
It does raise questions about how the industry is going in Italy. This report from August 2023 indicates that game sales in the country are up in general, but numbers are up and down in specific segments. There may also be unfavorable political or economic conditions in the country that may make it harder for companies like Digital Bros. For now, this is beyond our scope, and we will simply wish Digital Bros current and outgoing staff the best.
