The Barcelona wing of Misplaced Ark and Crossfire studio Smilegate is to shut down and all of its workers are to be laid off, if the studio’s world director is to be believed.
In a submit on his LinkedIn web page (through VGC), Smilegate Barcelona world and narrative director Stephane Blais stated earlier as we speak that the gaming {industry} “is beginning to look an increasing number of like a recreation of Battleship” and that it’s his studio’s “flip to be hit”.
He additional proclaims within the submit that Smilegate Barcelona’s workers are all being laid off and that the studio is closing down. He says that the staff was “incredible and actually devoted”, and that Smilegate Barcelona’s workers labored onerous to attempt to save the studio.
![The player engaged in combat with enemies in Far Cry 5, a game on which Smilegate Barcelona studio director Stephane Blais worked](https://techraptor.net/sites/default/files/styles/content_inline_mobile/public/images/far-cry-5-stephane-blais-smilegate-barcelona_0.jpg?itok=L4ZGFFb5)
Smilegate Barcelona was initially based in the summertime of 2020 underneath the stewardship of CEO Yongil Kim.
The studio’s first recreation was to be an open-world title for consoles. It had not but been introduced on the time of the studio’s closure.
Different Smilegate Barcelona workers included the aforementioned Stephane Blais, whose credit embrace work on the Far Cry and Murderer’s Creed franchises, in addition to different {industry} luminaries like someday Management 2 improvement director Stephane Assadourian and Murderer’s Creed Odyssey degree designer Fari Rug.
![Eivor and his fellow warriors fighting soldiers in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, part of a franchise on which Smilegate Barcelona employees worked](https://techraptor.net/sites/default/files/styles/content_inline_mobile/public/images/assassins-creed-valhalla-ubisoft-smilegate-barcelona.jpg?itok=AgqpWLUA)
Sadly, Smilegate Barcelona is the newest in an extended string of studios which have suffered layoffs, downsizing, or outright closure as a part of an ongoing {industry} wave.
Different studios closed in latest months embrace Saints Row developer Volition, Stray Souls studio Jukai, and TimeSplitters outfit Free Radical Design, amongst others.
Many studios which have managed to keep away from being closed down have nonetheless been struck with layoffs, too, together with Respawn Leisure, Supermassive Video games, and Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM.
It is unlikely that Smilegate Barcelona would be the final studio to undergo the consequences of this ongoing {industry} layoff wave. Keep tuned for extra on this and all different issues gaming industry-related.