Romero Games, the studio founded by games industry veterans John and Brenda Romero, could be set to close in future, as publisher funding for its next game has been pulled, with staff laid off in response. The news was shared by Brenda Romero on social media, in a post outlining the funding loss, and confirming ‘several other unannounced projects at other studios’ were also impacted by this change.
‘This was a strategic decision made at a high level within the publisher, well above our visibility or control,’ Romero said. ‘We deeply wish there had been something, anything, we could have done to prevent this outcome.’
‘This absolutely isn’t a reflection of our team’s work, performance, or the quality of the project itself. We hit every milestone on time, every time, consistently received high praise, and easily passed all our internal gates. We are incredibly proud of the work being done, and of the talented team behind it. The best we’ve ever worked with.’
Romero Games is reportedly ‘evaluating next steps and working quickly’ to support its team, although it does appear plans for the studio’s next major project have been put on hold, and a significant number of the studio’s employees have been laid off as part of these changes.
Read: Microsoft initiates sweeping Xbox layoffs, cancels several games
Notably, a social media post from one former employee (spotted by IGN) suggests Romero Games has fallen victim to Microsoft’s recently-announced cuts.
‘Today I found out our whole studio is being let go because of the layoffs at Microsoft,’ the employee said. Another employee has also confirmed Microsoft’s involvement, suggesting the publisher in question was actually Xbox Game Studios – which would also account for the ‘several other unannounced projects at other studios’ impacted.
While currently unconfirmed, these LinkedIn posts suggest Microsoft not only initiated layoffs in its gaming division this week, it also cut certain contracts and pulled funding for external studios, as well. That could mean a range of other game cancellations or contractions in the weeks and months ahead, with far-ranging implications for the games industry.
For now, it’s unclear what the future of Romero Games holds. It does appear the whole studio has been subject to layoffs, per social media reports, and that its next game – an unannounced FPS title – has been paused or outright cancelled by this loss of funding. While options are being explored, the nature of the modern games industry means any resurrection will be incredibly difficult. We’ll have to wait to see what happens to Romero Games next.
