Latest Nightingale Dev Bites Video Addresses Layoffs At Inflexion

Often, when a game development studio lays off staff, we either hear about it from the staff that were cut on social media or the company may make a post where they simply state that it happened and put out a call for other studios looking for employees to consider their former employees. Beyond that, the public may not hear much else from the developer outside of a dry earnings call statement that comes down to they had to cut people to save money. Very rare is the case where a developer takes the time to address the public directly and offer an explanation.

Even more rare is having executives say that they had personally failed in some way. So, it’s a little refreshing that that’s what the developer of the MMO Nightingale Inflexion Games did with its latest Dev Bites video. CEO Aaryn Flynn and Art Director/Head of Audio Neil Thompson decided that it would be prudent to take a few minutes to discuss the studio’s downsizing. While still a little vague, the video does make important points. First, Flynn and Thompson take responsibility for failing in certain areas. Second, the main failure is that the studio was “just too expensive” as are other studios in the industry. This isn’t news by itself, the studio said as much yesterday.

The video is quick to point out that all studios going through this are made up of “nothing but good people who are working hard and trying to deliver to a vision”. However, “more often than not” it’s just not working. That said, in the case of Inflexion, Flynn and Thompson take responsibility for this failure as it’s their job “to plan, to prepare, to set everybody up for success”.