In late July when Humble Games confirmed mass layoffs were taking place amid a restructuring, the company assured “operations will continue as normal” and said developers wouldn’t be affected. However the studio behind the newly released Metroidvania Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, which was published by Humble Games, is seemingly suggesting otherwise.
In a statement, indie developer Squid Shock announced that it has created a Patreon account to help fund its future content plans. The studio first acknowledged the overall positive reception to Bō and committed to improving the game by listening to and implementing player feedback. However, the studio also said the launch hasn’t been “without its challenges” – namely, the “shutting down” of its publisher, which seemed to contradict Humble Games’ assurance that it would be continuing operations as normal.
“Our publisher shutting down has meant we have missed out on critical post-launch support which may put our studio’s future at risk,” reads the statement shared to Twitter. “We want to make it crystal clear that this was in no way the fault of the Humble Games team we worked with. It is just a sad time in the industry and ultimately, we understand.”
After losing access to “the pipeline of critical systems,” Squid Shock said it’s only been able to manage development needs for the Steam version of Bō and that console porting and QA were “tied into our deal with our publisher.” Although the developer said it’s still struggling with the lack of resources, it also said “steps are finally being taken to restore access.”
Curiously, Squid Shock issued a follow-up statement a day after its original statement clarifying that, “We want to amend this by saying with all the confusion it is difficult to get the message straight. Humble Games did not ‘shut down’. Things are being restructured. However, for the time being we are being proactive to ensure the survival of our studio in uncertain times.”
Humble Games maintains that it’s staying open, though the original reports from employees who had been laid off indicated that parent company Ziff Davis was shutting down the publishing label entirely. Either way, it’s clear some developers are worried the layoffs will have a larger affect on Humble-published games than the company has been suggesting.
Multiple developers associated with Humble Games including Squid Shock recently expressed concern over their projects in a recent interview with The Verge, with a particular focus on console ports. I’ve reached out to Humble Games for comment and will update this piece if I hear back.
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