Rime developer Tequila Works lays off staff as part of studio restructure

Affects "a small number of roles".

Tequila Works, the developer behind acclaimed puzzle game Rime and publisher of The Sexy Brutale, has laid off a number of staff as part of a studio restructure.

In addition, it has cancelled an unannounced game.

The studio made the announcement earlier today on LinkedIn. "With deep regret, we must inform of the decision to cancel an unannounced game," it wrote. "This tough decision means we will be restructuring the studio to concentrate on the development of only one game. These changes will have an impact to a small number of roles at the studio.

"This is an incredibly difficult time, and our focus is to provide the support and guidance to those affected."

It's unclear exactly how many staff members are affected, or in which roles.

Tequila Works, based in Madrid, is best known as the developer of 2017's Rime, a beautiful puzzle game about a young boy lost on an island. That same year it co-developed and published The Sexy Brutale.

Since then, it released Stadia-exclusive Gylt in 2019, which made its way to consoles and PC shortly after that platform's shutdown.

Its most recent game was Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story, released under the Riot Forge label that shut down earlier this year.

Still, as the studio wrote in its post, it's now working on just one game, which can hopefully avoid the bad luck of recent releases.

Layoffs across the games industry in 2024 are now estimated to be at over 13,000.

Last month, Microsoft laid off 650 staff, in addition to 1900 earlier in 2024. Sony laid off 900 staff back in February, followed by 220 staff at Bungie in July.