Humble Games Lays Off Staff, Third-Party Takes Over Operations

Humble Games, the indie game publisher known for titles like Signalis, Wizard of Legend, and Temtem, lays off its staff of 36 employees. This move comes as a shock to many in the indie gaming community and contradicts initial company statements about “restructuring.”

Humble Games informed employees of the layoffs during a company-wide meeting. Steve Horowitz, president of parent company Ziff Davis’ technology and shopping division, cited long delays and rising costs as pervasive issues faced by the publisher. Horowitz revealed that Ziff Davis had attempted to sell Humble Games twice, but “neither attempt created significant demand, and unfortunately neither attempt created a viable offer or an outcome.”

Reports further indicate that a third-party  company called The Powell Group is taking over operations.

This is absolutely dreadful, Humble Games are the publisher of some extremely fantastic indie games like Signalis, Unsighted, Prodeus, Ghost Song, Ikenfell, Unpacking, Void Bastards, and many many more, as well as a lot of upcoming titles. This is dreadful. https://t.co/BLNrfjrg34 pic.twitter.com/3NeI02WJlE

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While Humble Games and its parent company initially framed this as a “restructuring” in public statements, former employees paint a different picture. Speaking anonymously to Aftermath, one ex-employee stated, “Ziff is trying to spread the idea that it’s a restructuring to save face, but that’s a lie. No one from HG survived the layoffs, nor will they have anything to do with game launches moving forward.”

Chris Radley, a former creative lead who left Humble Games in late 2022, confirmed the issue on LinkedIn:

“Operations have been handed off to a third party consultancy. NO staff are left.”

Radley accused Ziff Davis of attempting to “mitigate pushback” and called the situation “disrespectful” to former employees.

Humble Games was originally spun off from Humble Bundle, a charity-centric storefront acquired by IGN in 2017. While Humble Bundle operations remain unaffected by these cuts, the closure of Humble Games raises questions about the future of indie game publishing and the impact on developers currently working with the label.

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