Following layoffs affecting 17 employees just last month, developer OtherSide Entertainment has revealed that it has gone through a new round of layoffs. Speaking to Game Developer, a spokesperson from the studio has revealed that it is now made up of “fewer than 10” employees who are working on maintaining co-op stealth title Thick as Thieves.
The spokesperson has confirmed that this new headcount has been quite devastating for OtherSide Entertainment’s future, since there are “currently no plans for the studio to work on any future games.”
The previous layoffs came in light of the studio’s other project, codenamed Argos, getting cancelled. A spokesperson had noted that the project would have been “a huge success in normal times.” However, the current landscape of the industry being “brutally challenging” made Argos “unviable for now.”
“After the cancellation of a game under development, codenamed Argos, OtherSide Entertainment had to sadly say goodbye to 17 team members, effective end of May,” they said.
The layoffs had come after OtherSide Entertainment decided to reduce the scope of Thick as Thieves. The title was originally going to be a PvPvE game that would feature immersive sim elements. However, the studio made the decision to turn it into a smaller-scale co-op game instead, featuring only two maps and priced at $5. In a statement, an OtherSide spokesperson said that the studio in its current shape is “no longer a commercially viable path.”
“OtherSide’s DNA is built on immersive sim games that have lengthy development cycles,” they said. “This, unfortunately, has been an increasingly challenging space to occupy in recent years. Despite the encouraging response to the launch of Thick as Thieves‘ introductory campaign, it has become clear that the continuation of the studio in its current shape is no longer a commercially viable path.”
“We are deeply grateful to the team for their superb work and regret this outcome, having pursued every alternative to find a preferable solution.”
Thick as Thieves was released on PC back in May, launching with two maps – Constables’ Guildhall and Elway Manor. The title placed quite a bit of emphasis on its immersive sim trappings, thanks in large part to its development team, which included industry veterans who had previously worked on classic games like Thief.
Despite being low on content, director Jeff Hickman said that the studio didn’t really want to go with an Early Access release since that would end up putting quite a few constraints on what the studio could do with it in terms of future updates.
“We want to be able to pivot wherever we need to,” Hickman explained. “Do players just love solo and co-op play? Okay, great: no PvP for the future. Do players love solo and co-op, but are screaming about PvP? Oh, maybe we should do PvP. Like, we have a whole bunch of baseline plans, but none of them are set in stone.”
For more details about Thick as Thieves, take a look at our review, where we gave it a score of 7 out of 10 thanks to its compelling gameplay and intricate level design, but criticized its general lack of content.
