Update (05/17/24): Singularity 6 has told Game Developer it has laid off 36 staffers to navigate through a “tough economic period.” The studio said it will continue supporting Palia following the job cuts.
“Unfortunately we have had to restructure and reduce the size of our team as we stay focused on supporting Palia and serving our community long term. We had to let 36 of our colleagues go yesterday, in an effort to navigate this tough economic period,” reads a statement issued by a company spokesperson.
“We thank our departing team for all their work; we are committed to providing the best assistance and transition we can. We hope the industry will provide homes for these talented colleagues.”
Original story: According to reporting by Polygon’s Nicole Carpenter and Games Radar, Palia studio Singularity 6 has just laid off 36 workers, representing about 40 percent of its staff.
The news comes after the developer reportedly laid off 49 workers in April, with further staff allegedly leaving after that round as well. There was a smaller layoff last September, with an undisclosed number of developers affected.
Singularity 6 has yet to comment on the layoff, though developers impacted have already started to speak out online via Linkedin. We’ve reached out to Singularity 6 for further information, and will update the story accordingly.
Palia, which launched on Steam earlier this March, is currently Singularity 6’s flagship title. The game is pitched as a “cozy world made for you,” with some obvious aesthetic similarities and gameplay features to the likes of Stardew Valley and the Animal Crossing series. It’s currently free to play on Steam and Switch.
According to a post on the developer’s site in mid-March, there was strong interest in the game, including 600,000 playtest sign-ups, but it’s difficult to say if that momentum carried far enough beyond launch (just over a week later, on March 25).
Singularity 6 joins a terrible layoff week for the game industry
The news of the layoffs at Singularity 6 arrives here in another brutal week for the industry. Since Monday, we’ve reported on layoffs at studios including Square Enix, Studio Wildcard, Mighty Kingdom, and just today at Phoenix Labs.