Double Fine Lays Off 23 Weeks After Going Independent

Three weeks after regaining its independence from XBOX, Double Fine Productions has laid off 23 members of its staff. Studio head Tim Schafer shared the news in a statement posted today, describing the team as small and tightly knit and saying the cuts were not taken lightly, with only the studio’s survival making an action like this worth considering.

The connection Schafer drew is a direct one, with the transition to becoming an independent company also meaning a transition to a size the studio can actually sustain. Double Fine regained its independence on July 6, when Schafer thanked XBOX for seven years together and noted the arrangement preserved the studio’s history and culture while returning ownership of its games.

That separation came out of a restructuring where XBOX cut roughly 3,200 jobs across its gaming division while stating that no studios were being shut down. What happened instead was a run of spin-offs and separations, even for studios that weren’t owned by XBOX. IO Interactive took layoffs when XBOX walked away from Project Fantasy, and that project went independent days later. id Software addressed its own layoffs in a public statement on July 10.

Schafer closed the statement by saying the studio is committed to supporting each affected person as best it can, and thanking them for their work and for the creative spirit the team holds onto. The people leaving, he wrote, were all important, and all of them made an impact on Double Fine’s games and its culture.