At Least 30 Skydance Games Staff Were Laid Off After Warner Bros. Deal
Skydance says it will scale back some projects, while publicly identified affected employees appear to have worked for Skydance before the deal, not Warner Bros. Games.
Layoffs in Skydance’s games division began last week. Insider Gaming’s reporting, citing multiple employees, puts the number at at least 30, with the total believed to be higher.
In a statement to Variety, Skydance said it was reorganizing operations across several areas after reviewing where to focus its work. The company said it would scale back some projects, resulting in affected roles, but did not name the projects or give a headcount. It described the changes as part of positioning Skydance Games for long-term growth and said the cuts were not a reflection of the affected employees’ talent or creativity.
Employee posts provide more detail about the impact. Principal environment artist Dana Klaren listed more than 25 people who had been let go, including himself. David Vera, who was not among those laid off, said Skydance had “lost a ton of great talent” and named 25 affected staff. Senior gameplay and game AI programmer Rebecca Vessal said most of her team had been affected.
After the Oct. 6 merger, Skydance combined Paramount Games Studio and Warner Bros. Games under one games operation. The publicly identified employees affected so far appear to have worked directly for Skydance before the deal, rather than at Warner Bros. Games studios. Skydance is also offering employee buyouts and planning wider cuts across the company.
What should Skydance prioritize as it brings its games teams together and scales back projects? Follow changes across the combined division on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
