Certain Affinity, the support studio for Halo Infinite, has announced it will be laying off 25 employees; 10% of its workforce.
The news comes from Certain Affinity CEO Max Hoberman in a company blog post, where it was stated that for the first time in the studio’s 17-year history, it will be making job cuts (via Eurogamer).
“Over the past 12 months the game industry has faced unprecedented challenges,” the post reads. “We are no exception. Today we made the extremely difficult decision to inform 25 of our US-based employees that their jobs are being eliminated. This has the most impact on the teams running our business operations.”
Hoberman says there are multiple underlying factors for the decision, most significantly an “industry-wide slow down in the funding of new lead and co-development projects and the reluctance of third party investors to fund games or game companies.”
The CEO explains that these reasons have made it “exceptionally difficult to sign new work or secure other forms of funding”, leading to 10% of Certain Affinity’s 250 employees losing their jobs.
The post continues, with Hoberman confirming that the Texas-based studio will be focusing on the team and that it will be supporting those affected with severance pay and benefits continuation.
“We have built an amazing culture where we all come together to support one another in times of need,” Hoberman adds. “We ask for your understanding and patience while we navigate this unprecedented event. Thank you.”
Along with credits on the Halo franchise, including 343 Industries’ Halo Infinite, Certain Affinity is also known for its work on the Call of Duty series, Hearthstone, World of Tanks, Gotham Knights, Hogwarts Legacy, and more.
The studio’s layoffs are the most recent in an ongoing wave of job cuts across the games industry, all of which have amounted to over 16,000 in the past 18 months according to PC Gamer.