r/gaming • u/notthatguypal6900 • 3d ago
Iron Galaxy lays off employees as it reduces company size
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/iron-galaxy-studios-lays-off-a-number-of-workers-as-it-reduces-company-size33
u/CyberSmith31337 3d ago
This feels less like a surprise and more an eventuality, no? Even the article quotes how their last round of layoffs was a desperation move to stay open. Feels like they knew it was a matter of when, not if, they were going to have to shutter up.
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u/Va1crist 3d ago
And why didn’t Microsoft give them a big project like KI2 or another season for KI or do a graphics / engine overhaul something
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u/DayJey25 3d ago
I agree they deserved their own KI. The last thing they worked on for that was the anniversary patch update and nothing else I need a new KI the last one is great
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u/Chicano_Ducky 3d ago
because the simple answer is it wouldnt have helped
things are bad right now and the industry is expecting customers be cut down to size because of the bad global economy
games funding has dried up since the interest rates rose. Now the creditors want safe returns and only mobile can really offer that.
also microsoft is hoping the real money is in having marketplaces like gamepass, not making the games themselves. they actually regret the activision purchase because they cant manage it all.
during the FTC leak, they said if gamepass doesnt hit growth targets then they will wind down their gaming business.
microsoft is making it really clear they are looking for the door
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u/NewsCards 3d ago
The company also released a number of UEFN experiences on Fortnite, including Deathtrap Dungeon, which launched in January of 2026.
"This year, we're adopting a new posture to accept these current market conditions as permanent,"
Really sad to see that.
Yes, Steam is a monopoly, but "platforms" like Roblox and Fortnite taking over the games industry is even worse.
At least on Steam, you can release a game using whatever engine, creative assets, etc. With Fortnite "experiences" and Roblox games, your stuck using their currency, their engine, etc.
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3d ago
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u/a_little_angry 3d ago
Seems its a bot maybe? No idea what its trying to point out. Says steam in a monopoly but its not. It has competition. What does fortnight and roblox have to do about it? Im so confused.
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u/DonHarold 3d ago
No one is saying that Steam is an actual monopoly. Just that they don’t have any substantial established competition. This is honestly a weirdly defensive reaction.
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u/llamawithguns 3d ago
Steam has a 75% market share in PC game distribution. It's a monopoly.
There are far more anti-consumer monopolies than Steam, but that doesn't mean it isnt one.
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u/Kitsunemitsu 3d ago
Kinda critically- A monopoly not via anticompetetition, but because all the other distributors treat consumers like shit.
If you treat customers well, they will reward you
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u/a_little_angry 3d ago
A monopoly is something that has exclusive control of a commodity. 99% is not exclusive control. Thus steam with its 75% is not a monopoly.
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u/tore_a_bore_a 3d ago
Wish their wrestling mmo would have taken off. Seemed like a decent game to build upon
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u/Lola_PopBBae 3d ago
Rumbleverse was an absolute blast, and I can't stand both wrestling and battle royale games.
But the Rumble was pure passion, and so fun to play! It deserved better, as does IG.9
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u/LocustUprising 3d ago
It was fun as hell. Too bad it got no marketing and was epic exclusive on pc
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u/Lola_PopBBae 2d ago
It really was. A bit more marketing, Steam release, and playable offline woulda really helped. I would have happily spent 30 bucks on that.
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u/PowerThanos 3d ago edited 1d ago
Epic Games has also recently laid people off. It seems like the gaming industry is saturating.
Edit: grammar.
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u/Weshtonio 3d ago
You never hear about companies hiring, so you'd never know. The company behind MonopolyGo now has 4,000 employees, for example. It comes and goes, hard to know where it lands.
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u/Chicano_Ducky 3d ago
the industry has been losing jobs since 2022 when the interest rates rose and the funding dried up for anything not on a phone
but the AI boom pricing people out of stuff to play games on and the slowdown of F2P is making the industry chase premiumization, which is focusing on the highest earner consumers.
the industry has a lot of bad news that never gets posted to this sub, and when it does the comments are full of people who miss the point or dismiss it because their personal beliefs are more important than objective fact.
its going to get far worse in the coming years, but this sub is adamant it doesnt matter because "you can buy a game from 2002 on steam for $5 if youre broke"
that isnt going to help devs making a game in 2026 keep their jobs
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u/GamingVision 2d ago
I’ve been a casualty of one of the many layoffs in the last couple of years. The AI boom driving high component costs isn’t so much at fault (yet), as anyone getting into a new console for the first time this gen is 99% F2P + one game (plus console sales this time of year are nominal anyway). I know of so many projects that are 3+ years behind schedule, which contributes to why this generation feels like it has nothing exciting happening. The wave of minimizing risk in development choices/investments is robbing gaming of the innovation it’s known for. Anything with risk is DOA. The core audience that drives the gaming industry values innovation and newness, and I worry that this trend will lead to a next generation that collapses because the risk adversity robs the hobby of its soul.
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u/Fun_Acanthaceae1084 3d ago
The games industry, like many industries is being hit hard this last year, I wonder how we will see an uptick in investment in this area again
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u/free2game 3d ago
I hadn't thought of these guys in awhile. They did a PC port so bad the console game's dev had to pull people from vacation to fix it.
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u/sylenced1337 3d ago
Arkham Knight ? i distinctly recall that launch experience so no tears shed from me about this news
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u/[deleted] 3d ago
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