Humble Games denies shutting down after reportedly laying off all staff

Humble Bundle-owned indie publisher Humble Games has denied it is shutting down despite claims on social media that all 36 employees have been laid off.

Multiple staff members took to Twitter and LinkedIn to state they had been informed of the redundancies today. One said all employees were told the company was shutting down entirely.

In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, a spokesperson denied the closure and claimed “upcoming releases are not affected”.

Posting on Twitter, Humble Games said it had “made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure” its operations due to what it called “challenging economic times”.

PocketGamer.biz has reached out for clarification on how it plans to continue operations without the team that has been laid off.

"Challenging period"

“This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects,” read a statement from Humble Games.

“Additionally, the restructuring of operations at Humble Games will have no impact on operations at Humble Bundle.

“We are acutely aware of the profound impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and deeply empathise with everyone affected. Our team's contributions have been world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we started publishing in 2017. We are committed to navigating this transition with as much empathy and understanding as possible.

“Supporting our development partners and assisting 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 challenging period. It is deeply appreciated.”

More layoffs

Humble Games laid off staff in November last year amid a restructure of the company, but did not confirm the number of staff impacted by the decision. It said at the time it remained committed to continuing its work with developers.

Humble Games publishes games across PC, console and mobile, working on titles including Supra Games’ Supraland, Curious Panda Games’ The Iron Oath and Bossa Studios’ upcoming Lost Skies. Mobile releases it has partnered with include Mega Crit Games’ Slay the Spire, HopFrog’s Forager and Alt Shift’s Crying Suns.

In May, IGN Entertainment, which owns Humble Bundle and Humble Games, acquired the Gamer Network family of digital brands for an undisclosed fee. Publications it purchased included GamesIndustry.biz, Eurogamer, Rocket Paper Shotgun, VG247 and Dicebreaker.

That deal resulted in some redundancies across Gamer Network's brands.