Update: Singularity 6 has responded to our request for comment regarding the layoffs. Here it is in full below:
"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. 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 Below...
Palia developer Singularity 6 has reportedly laid off even more workers today, this time affecting around 40% of its staff. This is just weeks after the studio laid off 49 developers after the launch of the cozy MMO on Steam.
Back on April 5th, the Singularity 6 team saw 49 developers laid off across the studio, from artists to engineers working on the cozy MMO not even a year since its initial beta release. Today, Polygon's Nicole Carpenter is reporting that a further 40% of the studio has been laid off, around 36 developers. This is reportedly the third wave of layoffs to hit the team, as Carpenter reports another, though smaller, layoff wave happened back in September of 2023.
Carpenter notes in a Tweet that many developers left the studio after the last round of layoffs, meaning the team affected today is much smaller than it was previously.
Palia developer Singularity 6 is laying off 36 or so people (40% or so?) just over a month after laying off 49 people in April. They had a smaller round of cuts in Sept. 2023, too. Two sources said a bunch of people left after the April layoffs, leaving the staff much smaller. https://t.co/hga0qFpPt1
— Nicole Carpenter (@sweetpotatoes) May 15, 2024
Palia has been billed as a cozy MMO, launching into Open Beta last year on Epic Games, Nintendo Switch and, most recently Steam. The cozy MMO seems to have struggled to gain traction with MMO fans, and while it definitely nails its cozy vibes, the team has suffered a few self-inflicted wounds with the community thanks to a reluctance to label the experience as an Open Beta on its public-facing pages, most recently on the Steam release. We did enjoy our experience in Palia, and hopefully this doesn't mark the end of the game, especially as it recently just welcomed Spring with a slew of new quests and more.
We have contacted Singularity 6 for comment on this story and will update here should they respond to our request.
Ta, Dualius for the tip.
