Romero Games recently announced a restructure, as a major publisher had pulled funding from its next major video game. As part of this change, many staff were reportedly laid off, and some even reported the studio had closed, as a result.
Now, in a social media post, Romero Games has clarified that while it had needed to reassess the entire staffing situation at the studio as a result of pulled funding, it had not shut down. In fact, remaining staff are doing ‘everything in [their] power’ to ensure the studio doesn’t close, and ‘any suggestion otherwise is factually incorrect.’
The team reportedly met quite recently to discuss next steps with team members, with a view to continue working on its projects, and possibly even secure new publisher funding to revive its latest project. Per Romero Games, it’s currently in contact with ‘several publishers interested in helping [it] bring the game across the finish line,’ with opportunities currently being evaluated.
Read: Romero Games has been impacted by a major funding loss
At this stage, it appears there’s hope for Romero Games internally, as the studio may be able to continue work on its latest project, despite the cancellation inspired by its loss of funding. While Romero Games has described this project as being ‘canceled’ definitively, there’s every chance a negotiation could lead to better news, particularly for those developers who’ve poured years of time and effort in already.
What was Romero Games working on?
As for what Romero Games’ mystery, now-cancelled project actually was, that remains under wraps and will likely remain so, even as negotiations progress. To date, there’s very little we know about the project, although it was announced in 2022 as being an all-new, original ‘AAA’ FPS built on Unreal Engine 5. At the time, it was called a ‘new dawn’ for the studio, with the support of a major publisher bringing great excitement.
Publisher funding drove a hiring blast at Romero Games, with ‘talented people for all positions and at all experience levels’ sought out, at the time. Many of those same talented staff are now out of work, due to the funding loss, and it does appear plans for the project will need to shift, should any progress be made with alternative publishers.
At this stage, we’ll have to wait to see what’s next for Romero Games – but at the very least, we shouldn’t discount the studio just yet. As confirmed, it’s still very much alive and operating, with plans for the future currently in development.
