Knockout City Developer Announces Potential Layoffs, Which Could Mean 46 Out Of Its 121 Developers Being Let Go

Velan Studios, the team behind the excellent but since shuttered Knockout City has announced that it is going through a restructuring, which could result in up to 46 developers being laid off out of its full 121-person team.

The studio released a statement on Thursday, saying the layoffs are a potential due to an external partner cancelling a project Velan was working on, and now the studio isn’t sure if it’ll be able to keep everyone on.

“This is hard, but we can confirm that Velan Studios is in the early stages of a reorganization that will most likely result in some amazing people, teammates, and friends leaving the studio,” Velan began in its statement.

“A major project was suddenly canceled by an external partner, which means we may not be able to maintain our full studio size. Of the 121 current Velan Studios team members, 46 were given notice that they might be impacted by a layoff in 60 days.

This is sad because we have an awesome team who are deeply passionate about their craft. In the near term, we are doubling down on our current games, some of which are scheduled to release later this year, and are securing new partnerships to minimize the impact.

We hope to rescind as many notifications as possible. For those employees who may ultimately be affected, we will do our best to support them through this difficult process. We are grateful to all our employees for their hard work, creativity, and dedication.”

It’s unfortunate to hear that Velan might have to let go nearly 40% of its team, that’s a massive loss of talent, especially for an indie studio.

Hopefully these layoffs are lessened, or ideally avoided entirely within the next two months.

Source – [Velan Studios]