Bithell Games, the studio behind the acclaimed likes of Thomas Was Alone, John Wick Hex, and Tron: Catalyst, has announced job cuts impacting the “majority” of its full-time employees.
In a statement announcing the news on social media, studio founder Mike Bithell explained he company has been unable to secure a new larger scale project, meaning eleven jobs are now being made redundant. “This,” he noted, “constitutes the majority of our full-time staff”.
“It became clear leading up to the release of our most recent game that we were not immune to the challenges faced by many game development teams seeking funding partners in 2024 and 2025,” Bithell wrote. “We’ve fortunately been able to communicate these challenges ahead of time, and work with affected staff to ease departures as much as possible via severance pay.”
“It’s important to state that this was an incredible team of exceptionally talented people. If you’re a developer reading this, and you’re hiring; anyone among those affected would be a great addition to your studio, please reach out if we can help to put you in touch.”
Bithell concluded by noting the news will not affect the availability of the studio’s existing self-published games, nor will it impact any ongoing support for those titles. “We are incredibly grateful for our audience,” he added, “and hope that you’re interest in our work follows individual team members as they head into other roles.”
“Bethel Games was always defined and elevated by our people. Today we are less.”
Layoffs continue to blight the games industry, with tens of thousands of workers – across both major publishers and smaller studios – having lost their jobs in the last few years. In July alone, Microsoft laid off more than 9,000 employees, significantly impacting staff and studios across its Xbox division, and that was followed by job cuts at Still Wakes the Deep developer The Chinese Room and The Dark Pictures Anthology studio Supermassive Games.
