Update, July 25, 2024: Former Humble staff have questioned the company's statement regarding the restructuring, claiming it underestimates the impact on the team.
An anonymous staff member affected by the layoffs said: Gaming Industry.biz The statement is “patently incorrect” and emphasizes that the entire Humble Games staff was laid off this week.
Operations are said to be moving to an outside consultancy, The Powell Group, which will handle all remaining games. A transcript of a meeting with Steve Horowitz, president of Ziff Davis's purchasing and technology division, suggested that affected staff could be offered opportunities elsewhere within Ziff Davis or The Powell Group.
Aftermath has received similar reports, with a former Humble Games employee telling the site that the restructuring claim is “just to save face, but that's a lie.”
The site also cites Chris Radley, a former Humble Games employee who left in 2022, who posted on LinkedIn that “this is NOT a restructuring of operations,” but rather a “complete shutdown of Humble Games” with no internal staff remaining.
Gaming Industry.biz Reached out for more information, Humble Games and Ziff Davis are “not commenting further on the restructuring at this time.”
Update, 8:59 p.m.: Humble Games has confirmed that although it is undergoing a restructuring process, the company “is not closing” and “upcoming releases will not be affected.”
In a statement to Gaming Industry.bizHumble Games said:
“In these challenging economic times for independent game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring stability and support for our developers and ongoing projects. Additionally, the restructuring of Humble Games' operations will have no impact on the operations of Humble Bundle.
“We are fully aware of the profound impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and we deeply sympathize with everyone affected. The contributions of our team have been first-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we began publishing in 2017. We are committed to navigating this transition with as much empathy and understanding as possible.
“Supporting our development partners and helping former team members remains our top priority. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved. Thank you for your support and compassion during this difficult time. We deeply appreciate it.”
Original story: Humble Games is reportedly “closing down.”
According to former Humble developers, the 36 employees were apparently fired without notice this morning and told the company was closing.
Humble Games is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns Gaming Industry.biz Parent player network.
While there has been no formal word from Humble Games regarding the decision to shut down, its social media channels such as X/Twitter were active this morning, answering player questions and queries regarding its latest release, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus.
“At 9 a.m. today, 36 Humble Games employees were told we were being laid off and the company was closing,” said former BizDev executive Niki Kwan, who wrote about the incident on LinkedIn.
“The gaming industry is volatile, it's flooded with people who just want exponential growth at the expense of making great games with great teams,” added former 2D artist Emilee Kieffer.
“Billionaires and CEOs are raking in record profits at the expense of the employees who actually create the products. But I think we have the power to create studios that benefit us as game developers and not as people who just see us as money-printing machines,” Kieffer added.
Humble Games laid off an unknown number of employees due to restructuring efforts in November 2023.