Armello studio lays off over half its staff and 'indefinitely' pauses development on its ongoing early access game because 'almost all funding and investment has evaporated from the videogame industry'

pcgamer.com:

One more grim notch for the 2023 games industry meat grinder. Australian indie studio League of Geeks is laying off over half its staff and pausing development «indefinitely» on early access starship management game Jumplight Odyssey.

In a statement on Twitter, League of Geeks co-founders Ty Carey, Blake Mizzi, and Trent Kusters attributed the blow to «rapidly rising operation costs, a weakening [Australian dollar], poor early access sales, and the unprecedented withdrawal of funding opportunities across the industry.» A similar story, at least in some respects, to the many, many, many other layoffs that have blighted studios across the industry in 2023. 

We’ve got some unfortunate news to share, folks. A thread: pic.twitter.com/hDjlrkKtdVDecember 5, 2023

Although LOG assures players that the layoffs won't impact the February release of upcoming fantasy strategy game Solium Infernum, and that it won't disturb ongoing support for Armello, they have affected «the entire Jumplight Odyssey team,» explaining that game's indefinite suspension. In a longer FAQ over on the Jumplight Odyssey Steam forums, Trent Kusters told fans «this isn’t a case of execs at the top wanting to make an extra bonus, or a call to change 'strategic direction' or any of the other things you’ve heard big companies say before—this one really came down to our hands being forced.»

Kuster went on to relist the factors leading to the layoffs, adding that «In a budget’s contingency, you allow for random external factors like this, but all of them increasing at such unprecedented levels was not something we could ever hope to plan for.» In an incredibly dire but believable diagnosis of the current situation facing the videogame industry, Kuster added that