Kabam Studios, the developer of Marvel Contest of Champions, has recently confirmed that they would be laying off an undisclosed number of employees from their Los Angeles office. Looking at official statements provided by Kabam, the layoffs are a result of the game developer deciding to consolidate its Los Angeles office to streamline operations: it was a decision reached after much deliberation within the company and they do not expect their commitment to partners or their current game slate to be negatively affected by the layoffs. Another interesting business element about these layoffs is the lack of a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification [or WARN]. Normally, when a California business of a big enough size wants to let go of enough employees within a small period of time, they need to give at least a 60-day notice to not only the affected employees, but also officials of the State’s government, like elected officials representing the town the business is located in. This either means that the Kabam layoffs are under the threshold needed for a WARN, be it through employee number or time frame, or Kabam has yet to officially register the WARN. However, there has been at least one employee confirmation, with one taking to LinkedIn to indicate his five-year employment with the studio had ended.

The layoffs may come as a bit of a shock, not only because Kabam is a financially successful studio, Marvel Contest of Champions generating around $2 billion in lifetime revenue, but because Kabam is a Vancouver-based game developer.. The game developer expanded to the States after the acquisition of Tapzen and Magic Pixel Games in 2015. The two acquired studios were then merged into the current Kabam studio located in Culver City. This location was led by Mike Verdu, an industry veteran who founded the acquired studios before working for Kabam. This was done by Kabam due to their connections in Hollywood, as they hoped to strengthen their relationships in the city due to the developer’s use of licensed entertainment properties (i.e., Marvel). Later, in 2017, Kabam Vancouver was acquired by Netmarble, a South Korean company, and its Culver City location was merged with Netmarble US in 2022, further expanding Kabam’s presence in LA.

Regardless of Kabam’s success and influence in LA, this is not the first time Kabam’s Culver City location has restructured itself, as as the company previously underwent layoffs in 2022, with further workforce reductions reported in 2023. A lot about the layoffs remains unknown, as there has been no confirmation about number of employees being let go or what departments are to be affected. The future also remains uncertain, as there is no way to confirm how these layoffs will affect Kabam’s current projects, as well as whether more consolidations are planned in the future.