Developer of Sim MMO Palia Lays Off Approximately 1/3 of the Workforce

Singularity 6, the studio behind the cozy MMO game Palia, has reportedly laid off about 35 percent of its workforce. 

The news was first reported by Polygon reporter Nicole Carpenter on Twitter. This layoff is expected to affect approximately 50 employees, which is a third of the company's total staff. 

If you haven't played the game yet, Palia is a free-to-play community-focused Sim MMO, which combines life simulation and adventure elements. The game was recently released on Steam after an exclusive period on Epic.

Despite the game's unique appeal and recent Steam release, the studio has had to make the difficult decision to let go of a significant portion of its team. Several affected employees shared on Twitter their experiences and confirmed the layoffs.

Daphne Fiato, a former Environment Artist at Singularity 6, was among the staff members who were let go. She expressed her feelings about the situation:

Brian Ernst, an engineer who had been with the company for five years, confirmed his layoff on his Twitter account:

Natalie Olivari, former Concept Artist with Singularity 6, also announced her departure due to the layoffs:

Despite only being a quarter way through, 2024 has already been a harder year in terms of layoffs, when compared to 2023. As per the calculations by PC Gamer, the current layoffs are nearing last year's total count. It's estimated that about 8,000 job losses have already occurred in these initial months alone. 

Last week, Certain Affinity, the studio renowned for co-developing the Halo and Call of Duty series, had to lay off 10% of its staff. This marked the first time in its 17-year history that the studio had to make such a decision.

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