Imagendary Studios, led by a group of industry veterans, has reportedly been hit with mass layoffs, which affected most of its 54-person staff. The company hasn’t announced a single game in its three years of operation.
The report about the layoffs at Imagendary Studios David Luong (spotted by GamesIndustry.biz), who wrote on LinkedIn that the company has been “deeply restructured.” As a result, most of the employees were laid off.
“I remained on as one of the last skeleton crew members to tidy some things up,” he added. “But now our amazing team is part of the growing tech/VFX/gaming industry’s zeitgeist; funds being pulled in a recessive industry, uncertainty in the economy, strikes in Hollywood, AI…these all add fuel to the flames. I hope we can all rise from the ashes and become a greater voice in the creative industry sooner than later.”
Prior to joining Imagendary Studios, Luong worked at Blizzard for 15 years on cinematic for games like StarCraft II, Diablo III, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch. He noted that he is now “unemployed for the first time in 18 years.”
Imagendary Studios employed 54 people. It is unclear how
According to GamesIndustry.biz, the layoffs started in June or July. It appears that studio head Ryan Pollreisz, design director Michael Brinker, audio director Jason Hayes, and principal effects artist Matt Cordner were among senior staff affected by the job cuts. It is worth noting that all of them joined Imagendary last year.
As can be seen from the company’s LinkedIn profile, the list of employees who are now looking for a job also includes producer Yuhan Zhou, 3D supervisor Wey Wong, senior technical game designer Ian Goold, and lead lightning artist Fabio Stabel.
Imagendary Studios was founded in 2020 by Wei Wang, a former artist at Blizzard Entertainment. In 2021, the company was acquired by FunPlus. Its main goal was to “deliver the next generation premium quality pan-entertainment experiences through the building of innovative worlds that push the boundaries between games and movies.”
Although Imagendary was hiring devs for a third-person action-adventure game, it never announced its debut project.