Layoffs hit DC Universe Online Developer and Publisher

DC Universe Online developer Dimensional Ink Games and its publisher Daybreak Game Company have been hit with layoffs. 

According to Kotaku, Dimensional Ink lost an unknown number of senior staff, with Game Developer reporting reductions in the art, community, and narrative departments. The team is best known for developing the superhero MMO DC Universe Online. Daybreak Games (formerly Sony Online Entertainment) has worked on several multiplayer games, including EverQuest II, H1Z1, Star Wars Galaxies, and Planetside 2. The exact number of affected employees from both studios is currently unknown. 

This is, unfortunately, the latest of an alarming trend of game industry layoffs that plagued 2023 and have only intensified in 2024. Over 5,500 jobs have been cut within January alone. Last year, over 10,000 employees in the games industry or game-adjacent industries were laid off. 

Among others this year, Embracer laid off 97 employees at Deux Ex developer Eidos-Montréal, Destroy All Humans remake developer Black Forest Games reportedly laid off 50 employees, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees across its Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and ZeniMax, Outriders studio People Can Fly laid off more than 30 employees, and League of Legends company Riot Games laid off 530 employees.