505 Games parent Digital Bros lays off 30% of staff due to fears that players don't want new IP

rockpapershotgun.com:

505 Games parent company Digital Bros have announced - you guessed it - a round of mass layoffs. Following in the wake of Microsoft, Epic, CD Projekt, Sony and, well, take your pick, the company aim to cut roughly 30% of their workforce to shore up profits. The specific reasoning here is that Digital Bros think that people aren't interested in playing original new games; they'd rather get to grips with fictions and franchises they know and love already. As such, the company plan to "limit" their big budget projects in future, though no specific cancellations have been announced.

"The videogame market has evolved since the pandemic to be more selective in terms of new games, with consumers increasingly reverting to well established Intellectual Properties and playing these same games for longer periods," reads a statement. "Digital Bros strategy has had to adapt to this new and evolving competitive scenario and will focus its efforts moving forward on the release of sequels and new versions of previously successful and established games, with a limited number of new larger budget productions."

"In order to prioritize high-quality and long-standing successful titles, Digital Bros has reconsidered the number of projects under development and as such, will review the organization structure accordingly to align with the evolving competitive environment in the medium to long-term to ensure maximum operational efficiency," it continues.

It's not clear which teams are on the chopping block, but according to the statement, the "predominant portion" of the Digital Bros layoffs will be "concentrated within the studios". Aside from 505 - publisher of the PC version of Death Stranding, together with Control, Dead by Daylight,