Quest VR game Lone Echo developer Ready at Dawn has reportedly been heavily impacted by the latest round of massive layoffs by Meta Quest and VR owner Meta, with one employee claiming that a third of the studio's workforce has been laid off, including studio heads.
Today's layoffs at Meta could affect up to 4,000 employees, as part of the company's stated goal of laying off another 10,000 jobs in 2023 after announcing 11,000 layoffs last year, the Washington Post first reported.
The Washington Post reported that Meta targeted "highly skilled employees" in its latest round of layoffs, including engineers and other technicians. And since the report was published, employees have said that Ready at Dawn and Downpour Interactive, another developer acquired by Meta, have been affected.
Colin McInerney, now a "former" technical designer, tweeted: "I can't scold M*ta, so I just want to say that Ready at Dawn is a great studio with a lot of amazing people. I'm ready for the back, so I'll be fine. But many of my colleagues are different. ”
Thomas Griebel, the studio's senior engine/graphics programmer, also revealed the scale of the developer's layoffs on Twitter, saying that "another 1/3 of the studios were laid off today, including studio heads." ”
As for Downpour Interactive, which developed the VR tactical design game Onward and was acquired by Meta in 2021, studio senior designer Michael Tsarouhas tweeted: "I just got fired by Meta and will not continue to develop Onward. ”
Studio level designer Daan van Zelst wrote: "It's been a dark and difficult day at work in Tainan today. I can't believe what's happening now. ”