Where does this leave Gigantic?
(Update: Motiga CEO and founder Chris Chung replied to our email shortly after publication. He confirmed that 15 of the studio’s 82 employees were laid off today. In his words “Any kind of layoff is tough, but this was done to reduce our burn rate until we get to Arc launch which will happen in a few months.” Chung also pointed out that most of the reduction took place on the business and operations side of things, and it won’t affect the Arc launch which is currently set for second quarter of this year.)
Original story: It has been a few years since free-to-play MOBA Gigantic first hit the scene. Gigantic was immediately notable for its charming art style and its emphasis on slaying the opposing team’s behemoth guardian. It was poised to make a big splash among competitive multiplayer games.
Somewhere along the way, it seems as if Gigantic couldn’t quite figure itself out. It was supposed to be a Windows 10 PC and Xbox One exclusive but Microsoft pulled out of publishing about a year later. There has been a series of betas, but no real indication of an imminent release. Along the way, developer Motiga has been forced to lay employees off, the most recent case being in February of 2016.
The most recent until now, that is. Destructoid has received reports that Motiga had another round of layoffs today. An affected former employee (who wishes to remain anonymous) confirmed this to us. Although they aren’t sure of the exact number of cut jobs, they believe it’s greater than ten. For what it’s worth, LinkedIn broadly predicts Motiga’s employee count at 51-200.
Might this forecast the way Gigantic is shaping up? Layoffs usually don’t happen when everything’s rosy. Our source left with a positive impression. “As for commenting on Gigantic, I feel that the product itself is in a good state,” they said before declining to elaborate any further.
We’ve reached out to Motiga asking for self-confirmation that the layoffs took place, how many people were affected, what explanation there is for cutting staff, and what the current state of the game is and how this development affects it. We haven’t received a response at time of writing. We’ll update this article if/when we hear back from Motiga. As always, best of luck to the folks who find themselves suddenly displaced.
