Dead by Daylight Developers Behaviour Interactive Announce Second Round of Layoffs This Year

Behaviour Interactive has laid off a second round of employees this year.

By Hannah Adkins

Despite having an exciting ninth year ahead for Dead by Daylight that has already announced exciting crossovers with popular franchises like Dungeons & Dragons (which is available as of yesterday) and Castlevania with more announcements to come in the future, Behaviour Interactive is the latest studio to announce a round of layoffs. This is the second round of layoffs Behaviour Interactive has carried out this year as 45 employees were laid off in January, though this time this number is doubled with as many as 95 employees losing their jobs, 70 of which are based in Montreal.

"I would like to express my deep personal appreciation for any employee affected by today's changes. While changes to our structure and strategic vision have led to challenging decisions, we are confident that these decisions will position us for continued success. As we begin the next phase of Behaviour's growth, our commitment to excellence in our products and workplace culture remains steadfast," the press release from Behaviour Co-Founder and CEO Rémi Racine reads.

Related:

The announcement also cites that the studio grew from 575 employees to 1,300 in the last five years, growth supported by overall video game industry growth in the last few years. However, increased interest and consumption of video games has led to what Behaviour remarks as an increase in "unprecedented competition," so while the developers' Dead by Daylight continues to have steadfast interest, it seems it hasn't been enough to support the number of employees the studio has grown to. Additionally, Behaviour notes that Dead by Daylight's ongoing updates and development will not be impacted by these layoffs.

As mentioned, Bheaviour Interactive is the latest video game development studio to announce a round of layoffs, and unfortunately the industry as a whole is in a state of turmoil with consistent layoffs throughout the year, with the total number likely already approaching last year's full numbers. This is an indicator toward rationale behind Geoff Keighley's comments regarding the upcoming Summer Games Fest, which he recently curbed expectations on during a Q&A on the official Game Awards Twitch channel. "There will be, definitely, new announcements, but the show is largely focused on, I think, existing games that have new updates for fans," Keighley noted, making it clear that gamers shouldn't expect too many announcement trailers as the event approaches. 

Trending Now: