Rocksteady is reportedly the latest studio to suffer layoffs, with Suicide Squad’s poor sales blamed
Rocksteady is the latest studio to be hit with layoffs, according to a new report.
Sources have told Eurogamer that numerous employees have been made redundant over the past month, with its QA department more than halved (from 33 staff to 15) as well as non-QA job losses too.
According to the source, the job losses are directly linked to the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, with its poor sales specifically mentioned as a reason for what it describes as “restructuring”.
The report also cites one employee who mentioned on social media that they had been informed they were being made redundant despite being in the middle of paternity leave.
While a number of the layoffs are said to be junior staff, they’re also said to include some developers who have been at Rocksteady for more than five years.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League was the company’s biggest recent video game release, but it was met with mixed reviews and failed to achieve a consistent player base. The game has been blamed by Warner Bros Discovery as one of the key reasons for a drop in gaming revenue.
Last month the company said its Q2 gaming revenue had fallen 41% year-on-year, “primarily driven by the weak performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League this year, compared to the strong performance of Hogwarts Legacy in the prior year”.
During its previous Q1 earnings results in May 2024, Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav said the difference between Suicide Squad’s performance and that of Hogwarts Legacy last year had resulted in “a $200 million impact to EBIDTA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation] during the first quarter”.
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