OtherSide Entertainment

OtherSide Entertainment has executed a second round of layoffs, affecting 18 employees working on the Thick as Thieves title.

Leadership read: OtherSide Entertainment's second reduction on Thick as Thieves in a single development cycle signals a project under structural pressure, not routine optimization. A second-round cut of 18, on a studio already carrying the weight of a prior reduction, implies the production model for this title has been reset: scope, delivery timeline, or publisher/funding terms have shifted materially from what the original headcount was built to execute. That kind of sequential reduction typically reflects a gap between the capital committed and the output milestones required to unlock the next tranche, not a simple efficiency move. This is one of 12 layoff signals we have tracked in the last 90 days, and three sit directly in gaming: Sony/Bungie cutting 292 developers across the same week, Combat Waffle Studios reducing staff mid-production on a VR title, and now OtherSide's second pass. The Bungie signal is the most instructive, a major-platform owner absorbing losses on a live-service title even as its platform chief reaffirmed content investment. Together these data points show mid-sized studios on original IP are the most exposed cohort; publisher backing alone is insufficient insulation when production risk accumulates. Companies at this stage of distressed mid-production in the games corridor face rising demand for production leadership with experience managing scope under capital constraint, alongside commercial and partnership operators who can restructure co-development or licensing terms without killing the creative thesis.

curated · 2026-07-03 · context →

OtherSide Entertainment laid off 17 staff members following cancellation of in-development project (Argos)

Leadership read: Project cancellation at this scale leaves the studio in a structurally different position than a simple headcount reduction. OtherSide had organised creative, engineering, and production capacity around Argos; that work is now gone, the institutional knowledge built during development disperses with the departing staff, and whatever IP or design assets existed may have no clear commercial path. For a studio of OtherSide's size, historically well under 50 people, losing 17 roles is not a trim, it is a fundamental reset of operating capacity. The remaining organisation must now decide whether it rebuilds around a new project, seeks a publishing or co-development relationship to de-risk the next slate, or operates as a smaller entity with a narrower scope. This is one of twelve layoff signals we have tracked across sectors in the last 90 days. The gaming-specific examples are the most instructive: Double Fine cut 23 roles (25% of its workforce) following its separation from Xbox, and EA reduced headcount across its Battlefield teams despite a record-breaking launch. The consistent pattern is that mid-sized studios face acute financial exposure at project-transition moments, particularly when they lack a committed publishing partner to bridge between titles. Across independent and mid-tier studios at this stage, the pattern concentrates demand for commercial and partnership leadership, specifically operators who can structure co-development, co-funding, or licensing arrangements before a project reaches full production scale. Studios burning capital on unannounced titles without a publishing backstop are the most fragile; the market is moving toward operators who can build and maintain those relationships proactively rather than reactively.

curated · 2026-06-18 · context →