Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive confirmed that it has laid off less than 3% of its workforce in the latest move of game developers downsizing.
The studio confirmed the layoffs to Game Developer, citing due to "changing market conditions."
Many of the affected employees are from its Montreal studio. The layoffs started back in December but were kept in hushed tones for an unspecified reason, Kotaku reported.
This will be the first time in five years since Behaviour Interactive significantly reduced its workforce from its main studio in Canada.
The decision was made within 12 months since Behaviour bought several studios in the UK and the Netherlands as part of its goal to add its "industry-leading external development capabilities" in Europe.
Game Industry Suffers More Layoffs in the Opening of 2024
Just 18 days into 2024, more and more game developers have been confirming batch layoffs for vague reasons like changing the market in the gaming industry or company restructuring.
Among the companies that recently announced job cuts, include NetSpeak Games, Funselektor, and Unity.
With last year's layoffs affecting at least 9,000 employees, the trend is expected to continue and grow this year with how 3,000 confirmed layoffs in less than three weeks in January.
Workers Express Concerns Over Increasing Layoffs in Game Industry
While gamers were certainly happy with the wave of games released last year, many developers have a very different opinion.
Several laid game developers have previously formed a picket line during the Game Awards last month in protest to the increasing layoffs happening in the industry.
SAG-AFTRA, the union that led the actors' strike last year, joined with the Game Workers of South California in holding the protest.
However, unlike SAG-AFTRA, the gaming union has yet to receive a deal to amend the rising issue of mass layoffs in the industry.
