After laying off 20% of its staff early in 2024, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure studio Deck Nine has announced that it’s been hit with more layoffs to end the year.
In a statement posted to X/Twitter, Deck Nine Games CEO Mark Lyons wrote they’d have to “say goodbye to some of our talented team members,” but didn’t specify how many would be affected by the cuts.
— Deck Nine Games (@DeckNineGames) December 6, 2024
“This was an extremely difficult decision and reflects the challenging times many companies in our industry are currently facing,” Lyons wrote. “We are extremely grateful to every individual who has dedicated their hard work, passion and commitment to making transformative entertainment with us.”
Deck Nine, which is also behind Life Is Strange entries Before the Storm and True Colors as well as The Expanse: A Telltale Series, released Double Exposure to positive reviews (IGN gave it a 9/10) at the end of October. The studio, however, has been plagued with issues before today’s layoffs; earlier this year, we at IGN ran an extensive report about its internal struggles with toxicity, hate speech, crunch, and more.
Deck Nine announced the last round of layoffs in February. Prior to those layoffs, IGN understood the studio employed roughly between 100 and 130 staffers. It’s unclear how many remain after the two rounds of layoffs this year. Deck Nine laid off around 30 employees in May 2023 as well.
The original developer of Life Is Strange, Don’t Nod, also announced layoffs in October after canceling two in-development projects amid a reorganization.
Today’s Deck Nine announcement is unfortunately only the latest layoff news to hit the games industry as the year wraps up. Earlier this week, Ubisoft revealed that it would be shutting down two production studios and laying off 277 employees in the process.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
