Versus Evil shuts down after ten years, lays off staff before Christmas
In another indication of the overall health of the games industry (and not a promising one), video game publisher Versus Evil has closed its doors just days before Christmas - laying off its entire staff in the process.
The publisher, which helped launch the likes of Stoic Studio's The Banner Saga, Abrakam's Faeria, and the Switch port of Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity, released a statement on X confirming the news after social posts from members of the team.
Versus Evil is no more
Click to enlarge"Today is a sad day," the statement reads. "After 10 wonderful years, Versus Evil is shutting its doors.
"We've loved bringing you the best indie games we could find & sharing so many happy memories with you all, our amazing community! From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for everything!"
Versus Evil's former head of production, Lance James, had previously revealed the news saying "Welp. That was a fun 10 year ride. The entire Versus Evil team has just been laid off" in a statement on Twitter/X.
Counting the cost of industry layoffs in 2023
The closing of Versus Evil just days before Christmas caps off a year that may have shown how unsustainable modern game development is.
We've seen layoffs from Embracer Group, Epic Games, Bungie, Microsoft, and more, as the industry counts the cost of ever more ambitious projects, as well as games media layoffs at VentureBeat, GameSpot, Network N, and more.
Here's hoping for a better 2024.
