The depressing, alarming, infuriating trend of videogame industry layoffs continued unabated today with news that Avalanche Studios Group, best known for the Just Cause series, is closing two of its offices, in Montreal and New York, and putting around 50 people out of work.
“Since its inception over two decades ago, Avalanche Studios Group has grown to encompass five locations worldwide: Stockholm, New York, Malmo, Liverpool, and Montreal,” Avalanche said in a message posted on its website (via GameDeveloper). “Today, we regretfully announce the closure of two of those locations: New York and Montreal. This means we’ll be parting ways with around 50 valued friends and colleagues, which represents roughly 9% of Avalanchers worldwide.
“This is an exceptionally difficult decision, but we believe it’s necessary to ensure a stable and sustainable future for the company.”
Avalanche Studios has indeed been around for more than 20 years (although Avalanche Studios Group, encompassing the original Avalanche Studios along with Expansive Worlds and Systemic Reaction, wasn’t formed until 2020) but the Montreal office didn’t even last one: It was founded in October 2023 after ASG acquired Monster Closet, a studio founded in 2021 by veterans of Ubisoft.
For those without a calendar handy, that’s eight months from acquisition to closure: That has to be a kick in the guts for Avalanche’s Montreal employees, and I expect it will result in no meaningful consequences for any of the executives involved.
The Avalanche office closures are the latest in a deluge of layoffs and shutdowns that have plagued the videogame industry since early 2023. Just last week, Kerbal Space Program 2 developers confirmed that layoffs are coming to Intercept Games at the end of June as part of sweeping cuts at Take-Two Interactive; earlier in May, Dauntless developer Phoenix Labs laid off “many” employees and cancelled work on unannounced projects in what the studio said was “the last resort to ensure Phoenix Labs can survive.”