The developer of several upcoming virtual reality titles, including Sony’s VR game Starship Troopers, has experienced a series of significant layoffs amid what it called a “challenging VR gaming market.”
XR Games, developer of the poorly received Hitman 3: VR Reloaded, as well as the upcoming Zombie Army VR for Rebellion and Starship Troopers: Continuum for Sony, has seen the layoff of one of its former employees in a restructuring deemed “beyond a restructuring.”
72 employees were reportedly laid off, leaving only 12 of approximately 84. The staff reduction cast doubt on the launch and support of both Zombie Army VR and Starship Troopers: Continuum, but in a statement issued to IGN, XR Games insisted that both will still release later in 2024 r.
Here is a statement from Bobby Thandi, founder and CEO of XR Games:
“I am devastated that we will lose some of our incredibly dedicated, talented and valued colleagues. We have spent many months carefully examining alternative solutions in the face of the challenging VR gaming market and challenging broader gaming landscape, and this is one of the most difficult business decisions we have faced.
“Our priority during and after the consultation process is to treat all team members with the utmost respect and care. We are committed to helping those affected by this situation through outplacement support such as CV clinics, portfolio consulting, interview preparation and internships, and flagging available industry jobs. We also provide our employees with mental health support.
“I’m very proud of our teams for their hard work on Hitman 3: VR Reloaded, which will continue to receive patch support, as well as Zombie Army VR and Starship Troopers: Continuum, which are scheduled for release later this year. We want to be able to create innovative titles for many years to come, and we will work to navigate this change and shape the future of XR Games.”
Hitman 3: VR Reloaded, developed by XR Games in collaboration with Hitman owner IO Interactive, is a standalone port of Hitman VR for Meta Quest 3 that was intended to address some of the biggest criticisms of the game on PC, such as the lack of a dual wielder. But it started with negative reviews from both players and the press Eurogamer calling it “as bleak as VR games can be.”
The VR market is struggling. For example, PSVR2 lost momentum shortly after launch despite its technical prowess, although Sony hasn’t released numbers since it revealed it had sold 600,000 units in the six weeks since its February 2023 launch.
Sony Interactive Entertainment global business head Eric Lempel said Financial Times. in December 2023, he stated that VR is “quite a challenging category right now.” in March Bloomberg reported that Sony has allegedly suspended PSVR2 production to clear the backlog of unsold units.
Meanwhile, Starship Troopers: Continuum will be released on Meta Quest 2 and 3 on October 17, 2024, and on PSVR2 on October 31, 2024. Zombie Army VR will be released on PSVR2, Meta Quest 2, 3 and Pro, Oculus Rift and PC headsets PC via Steam in 2024
Wesley is the UK news editor at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Wesley can be reached at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wy100@proton.me.
