Updated
Updated · Game Developer · Jun 17
OtherSide Entertainment Lays Off 17 After Canceling Argos as Gaming Market Turns Brutal
Updated
Updated · Game Developer · Jun 17

OtherSide Entertainment Lays Off 17 After Canceling Argos as Gaming Market Turns Brutal

3 articles · Updated · Game Developer · Jun 17

Summary

  • Seventeen OtherSide Entertainment employees were let go effective at the end of May after the studio canceled its in-development game codenamed Argos.
  • Argos became "unviable for now" because a project the studio said could have been a major hit in normal conditions no longer fit a "brutally challenging" games market.
  • LinkedIn posts from departing staff surfaced a day earlier, with affected developers including a world builder, level designer and senior 3D artist saying they were back on the job hunt.
  • The cuts came shortly after Thick as Thieves launched on May 20, following a late pivot from a PvPvE stealth game to a two-player co-op and single-player format.
  • The layoffs mark a setback for a studio led by Warren Spector and Paul Neurath, which said a 2023 partnership with Aonic Group would help it expand and deliver original titles.

Insights

With a 'strategic partner' for growth, why did Warren Spector's studio just cancel a game and lay off its team?
With AI driving up hardware costs and AAA studios shedding staff, can mid-sized game studios even survive 2026?