Outriders Developer People Can Fly Cancels One Project, Scales Another Back, And Lays Off Over 120

Back when looter-shooter Outriders launched in April of 2021, Square Enix was backing developers People Can Fly in the new endeavor. However, over a year after launch, People Can Fly announced that they still hadn't seen any money from the game's launch as the contract with Square Enix ensured SE got its money back first.

While the game did see updates and even the "Worldslayer" expansion, it wasn't enough to protect the company from layoffs.

Fast forward to today and People Can Fly is sadly laying off over 120 members of its staff in response to "external market pressures." The announcement comes from the developer's X account and also details the company cancelling Project Victoria and scaling back Project Bitfrost, two unrevealed projects the company has been working on behind the scenes.

It's sad that this has to happen at all, but it's even sadder that it happens around the holidays. The post doesn't detail specifics, but it does mention that the impacted team members are being "supported" by the company with "resources and assistance." What exactly that means (severance?) isn't explained.

We very much hope those impacted land on their feet quickly.