Playtonic, known for creating Yooka-Laylee, announced on social media that it will be laying off some employees. The announcement did not specify the number of affected staff members, attributing the decision to challenges arising from significant changes in game creation and funding.
According to a LinkedIn post by Playtonic brand manager Anni Valkama, the layoffs impact various roles, including production, art, game design, narrative design, and UI/UX design. Although Playtonic lists around 50 employees on LinkedIn, the actual team may be larger due to its expansion into publishing and the upcoming release of Yooka-Replaylee.
Playtonic is not immune to the broader challenges faced by the gaming industry regarding funding and selling games. It is common for companies to hire for new projects and then reduce staff before the game’s release. Whether this applies to Playtonic remains unknown without further details.
Yooka-Laylee was introduced as a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie and similar action-platformer games, making its debut on Kickstarter in 2015. This connection is not surprising, given Playtonic was established by former Rare developers, the creators of Banjo-Kazooie and newer titles like Sea of Thieves. Many of the games published under Playtonic’s "Playtonic Friends" label, such as Lil Gator Game and Demon Turf, align with the type of games Rare is known for.
