Harebrained Schemes Faces Uncertain Future After The Lamplighters League Underperforms

Key Highlights :

1. An alleged former employee at Harebrained Schemes revealed that a majority of the studio's staff was laid off over the summer.

2. On , that worker claims the studio cut "80 percent or so" of its workforce in July, months ahead of the developer's newest release, .

3. Game Developer can verify former Harebrained staff revealed they were impacted by those job cuts on LinkedIn.

4. Some posts date back to or , while others are as recent as .

5. A representative for parent company Paradox Interactive confirmed to that layoffs occurred at the studio prior to launch. However, they didn't provide specifics, only saying the staff "was significantly reduced over the summer as the game entered its last phase of development and launch preparations."

6. Earlier in the week, Paradox revealed it would be writing off as a just a week after it came out. While the game has seen "positive player numbers" thanks to being on Xbox Game Pass, the publisher claims its commercial outlook has been "a big disappointment."

7. "At present we have no changes to the game's post-launch plan."

     The video game industry is no stranger to uncertainty and the fate of developer Harebrained Schemes is no different. Following the underperformance of its newest game, The Lamplighters League, the studio's future is reportedly in flux.

     An alleged former employee at Harebrained Schemes revealed the studio cut “80 percent or so” of its staff in July, months ahead of the game’s release. This news was corroborated by several ex-HBS staff members who posted about their job losses on LinkedIn. Game Developer can verify these posts date back to as early as May or June, while others are as recent as August.

     A representative for parent company Paradox Interactive confirmed to Game Developer that layoffs occurred at the studio prior to launch. However, they didn’t provide specifics, only saying the staff “was significantly reduced over the summer as the game entered its last phase of development and launch preparations.”

     Earlier in the week, Paradox revealed it would be writing off The Lamplighters League as a just a week after it came out. While the game has seen “positive player numbers” thanks to being on Xbox Game Pass, the publisher claims its commercial outlook has been “a big disappointment.”

     “Game projects are by their nature always risky, but at the end of the day we haven’t performed at the level we should,” said Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester at the time. “It is painful but makes us more eager to roll up our sleeves and do better.”

     The representative added, “At present we have no changes to the game's post-launch plan.”

     With the future of Harebrained Schemes uncertain, only time will tell what the studio's next move will be. Will it continue to develop games or will it be forced to close its doors? Only time will tell.

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