Galvanic Games, developer of Wizard With a Gun, is closing down.
In a statement posted to the Seattle-based studio’s social media channels, president and founder Patrick Morgan said the announcement was made with a “heavy heart” and “the irony of having spent 10 years building a studio.” [their] It was an ideal team, [the team’s] “The most productive year.”
“Despite a strong start to Wizard With a Gun, sales are not sufficient to sustain the studio,” Morgan said in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Working with Devolver Digital has been a dream come true for us. Together we’ve made a game that I’m incredibly proud of. It feels bittersweet to know that we’ve been able to accomplish everything we set out to do when we founded Galvanic in 2015. From releasing unique, quirky, and interesting games to collaborating with some of my favorite people in the industry, it’s all come true while building a tight-knit, productive team focused on a healthy creative culture.”
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“But it’s extremely tough to watch our team face the uncertainty of the current market. I may never get over the irony of spending 10 years building the team of my dreams only to have it wind up after one of my most productive years. The dedication, creativity and hard work of every single person on our team has been nothing short of extraordinary.”
Morgan concluded by thanking his team and players for the “support and memories.” I shared my resume and portfolio list on LinkedIn How many developers will be affected by the closure?
To this, Devolver Digital simply responded, “We love you all.”
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It’s unclear how many jobs have been affected by the closure.
Galvanic’s closure is just the latest in a long line of studio closures and layoffs, heralding unflinchingly dire times for games and the people who make them: By the end of May 2024 — not even halfway through the year — the entire video game industry will have lost more than 10,000 jobs this year.
At the end of May, when Ed wrote the article above, 10,000 people had lost their jobs in the games industry. Now, just 15 days later, that number has risen to 10,800. By comparison, 10,500 people have been laid off in 2023, meaning more game developers will be affected by layoffs in less than half the time frame into 2024.
In June alone, Just Cause developer Avalanche closed two of its five offices, and League of Geeks, developer of Armello, Jumprite Odyssey, and Thorium Infernum, recently announced it would be “going into hibernation for the time being” following its decision to cut 50 percent of its workforce late last year.
“Layoffs will slow — most of the larger companies have already made moves and hopefully won’t have to do any more (some analysts who spoke to GamesIndustry.biz believe companies may need to start rehiring within the next few years) — but the pain is not over,” GamesIndustry.biz’s Chris Dring wrote for Eurogamer about the state of layoffs in the video game industry.