Avalanche lay off fifty staff, close two studios
Just Cause developers Avalanche Studios are the latest to be hit with redundancies with around 50 staff being let go. They will also be closing their New York and Montreal studios, the latter having only opened eight months ago in October 2023 when the company added the Monster Closet’s development team into their group.
“From the very first moment we met, we knew that Avalanche Studios Group would be a perfect fit for us,” wrote Jennings, Monster Closet’s CEO at the time. “Becoming part of such a legacy and contributing to its continuation is a dream come true.”
“Our focus is now on supporting all Avalanchers through this challenging time. We’re grateful for the invaluable contributions of those leaving and remain committed to creating incredible gaming experiences for our players,” reads a brief statement on their website.
The news comes just days after the announcement that the Just Cause movie is finally picking up steam. Blue Beetle director Ángel Manuel Soto is set to helm the project for Universal Pictures with Kelly McCormick and David Leitch’s 87North production company, who are behind The Fall Guy, are also involved.
We also know another Just Cause game is in development as it was mentioned in the ‘Outline of Financial Results Briefing by SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS held on May 13, 2022’.
“We especially revisited our studio and title portfolios from the perspective of stepping up our offering of online titles that we develop for the North American and the European market. We want to focus on creating new titles that align with our strategy, including ones that leverage new IP. The JUST CAUSE franchise will remain our IP, and we are at work developing a new title in the franchise.”
Additionally they are working on Contraband for Microsoft, that was announced three years ago but we have not seen anything about the game since then.
Avalanche join Square Enix, Take Two, EA, Sony, Microsoft, Embracer, Twitch and many other video game companies who have cut their workforce
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