I Am Bread and Surgeon Simulator developer Bossa Games is the latest games company to make sweeping layoffs

Update: Bossa Games has confirmed to TRG that a total of 20 team members have been made redundant, which is approximately one third of the studio. 

In an official statement shared with us, Bossa Games’ co-founder, Henrique Olifiers, said: “We find ourselves in the midst of a perfect storm of events.” 

He continued: “A sequence of fantastic AAA titles launching close together since September, taking away focus from AA and indie games; higher operational costs of making games of all sizes; funding decisions for new titles being delayed across the industry; all collaborating to create a difficult situation we, as developers, are struggling to brave.

“Resulting from this blue moon situation, we had to make the difficult decision to reshape the studio to reflect the position we find ourselves in at the end of this year [2023], focusing all our efforts now on Lost Skies. This means we find ourselves in the heartbreaking position of having to let roughly one third of the studio go – amongst them, some of our closest colleagues.”

Olifiers added in the statement that the company was doing its “utmost” to support those affected, but said: “We would appreciate any help our industry peers can give in spreading the word about these great people.” 

He concluded: “We often say that making games is hard, but nothing is harder than seeing people you admire being let go. Ultimately, we tried our very best to avoid being in this position, and we’re truly sorry for where we have landed.”

Original story:

A number of staff at Bossa Games, the UK game studio behind the Surgeon Simulator games, I Am Bread and more have recently been impacted by layoffs, it’s been confirmed. 

Daniel Nye Griffiths, who led global communications at Bossa Games from early 2023, revealed in a LinkedIn post before the end of the year that his team had been “closed down as part of a significant change in the studio’s size and structure.” He noted: “Unfortunately, independent games studios and publishers are particularly vulnerable to the conditions that have been impacting the tech industry.”

He continued: “There are several excellent former Bossians across several disciplines – including marketing, but also QA, IT, production, development, finance and HR – who will also be looking for work in the New Year. I would recommend anyone with staffing needs should check them out, and I’m very happy to make introductions and recommendations to any recruiters reading this.”

The studio is currently working on the co-op survival adventure, Lost Skies, which was announced last May, and is set to be published by Humble Games. Wrapping up his post, Griffiths wrote: “I’d also like to wish everyone at Bossa the very best, and all good wishes as they keep working to make Lost Skies a great experience.”

Sadly, 2023 was fraught with redundancies within the games industry. Fortnite developer Epic Games announced enormous staff cuts in September 2023, with around 830 people affected. 

There were also numerous layoffs at studios owned by Embracer Group as a result of the company’s restructuring program. As of the end of September, 904 people had been affected, but this number rose higher before the end of the year with cuts at Fishlabs, New World Interactive and more. Free Radical Design, the studio behind the TimeSplitters series, was confirmed to be closed in the middle of December.  

If you’re looking for some excellent new games to play, be sure to check out our lists of the best indie games, as well as the best indie horror games for some recommendations.