„The project I've been working on for the last 4 years was pulled from our hands, and our entire development team was laid off.” LoTR: Return to Moria devs are in a major crisis
There are many hints that Free Range Games - the studio responsible for The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria - has just fired the entire development team working on the unannounced project.
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Even though there hasn't been an official statement yet, it seems like there have been a lot of layoffs at Free Range Games, the creators of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. This information can be inferred from a series of posts published in recent days on LinkedIn by former employees of the company.
According to the shared posts, about 80 developers were supposed to say goodbye to their jobs, including the entire team working on a project that hasn't been announced yet. One of the people who openly shared their situation is UX/UI designer Quinn Le. She wrote on her profile:
On Monday, the project I've been working on for the last 4 years was pulled from our hands, and our entire development team was laid off. We are all saddened, off-balance, but most of all, looking to the future.
On the other hand, Joseph Knox, a senior producer at Free Range Games, revealed that the project "lost funding from the publisher," which affects the 80-person development team.
As noted by GameDeveloper, recently, at least five FRG employees announced on LinkedIn that they are looking for a new job. Four of them used almost identical messages, asking for support and information about possible employment.
If the reports are confirmed, this will be the second wave of job cuts at Free Range Games studio this year. A few months ago, the company officially announced some layoffs. Then, the list included 13 employees from various departments who decided to make their profiles public.
Free Range Games has been working on a skateboarding game - Wrekless for some time now. The game is supposed to be released on Steam Early Access soon, but the uncertain situation of the studio raises questions about the future of the project.
The layoffs at Free Range Games, though undoubtedly serious, are just a fraction of what is currently affecting the industry. According to the latest information, the number of employees laid off in the Xbox department has reached as many as 9,100 people today.
