Daybreak Games, the company behind H1Z1, DC Universe Online, Planetside 2 and more has reportedly laid off upwards of 70 employees according to now-deleted tweets by former President of Daybreak Games John Smedley. This wasn’t the first time something like this has happened this year either, as there was round of layoffs that occurred in April as well. While an official number hasn’t been given by the San Diego based developers, they did give a statement to sites such as Gamasutra and Variety.
We are optimizing our structure to ensure we best position ourselves for continued success in the years to come. This effort has required us to make some changes within the organization and we are doing everything we can to support those impacted in this difficult time.
As we look to improve efficiencies and realign resources, we remain focused on supporting our existing games and development of our future titles.
Restructuring, a commonly stated justification by companies for layoffs, was also the same reason given for the layoffs in April (alongside bizarre string of occurrences). Actually, the layoffs that happened recently are almost shockingly similar to the layoffs that happened back then, with no confirmed number of individuals laid off but a likely estimate of 70 employees. Daybreak Games has had a rough year with H1Z1: Just Survive having closed in October and its counterpart, H1Z1: Battle Royale, being outshone by Fortnite Battle Royale and other extremely successful games of the battle royale genre.
Many studios and developers have come out in support of those who lost their jobs in the layoffs, creating a hashtag to help them find new work. It’s extremely upsetting to hear whenever a company does mass layoffs, and it’s even more upsetting to hear it happen just weeks before Christmas. Hopefully those who are no longer employed by Daybreak Games find work sooner rather than later.